
Book Z5'3__„ 



Co{yriglit>l" 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



POULTRY 

Appliances 

£^ Handicraft 

I/O IV TO MAKE d- USE 
LABOR- SA I VXG DE VICES 
WI TH D ESC R I P TI VE 
PLANS FOR FOOD ^ IV A TER 
SUPPLY BUILDING 6- 
MISCELLANEOUS NEEDS 
Also Treats on ARTIFICIAL 
INCUBA TION^ BROODING 

Compiled by 

GEORGE B. FISKE 



% 



Copiously Illustrated 



ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 
Ne-M York Nmeteefi Hundred &f Two 



CONC3RE8S. 

Two Comee Rp.c«iy»fo 

AUG. 30 1902 

CoPyWQHT ENTPV 

CLASS CL-XXo No. 

3. ^ '^ 3 

COPY 8. 



Copyright iqo2 

by 

Orange Judd Company 



5F4?7 
T55 



^ CONTENTS 

^. 

L^' 

CHAPTER 1 

Devices for Feeding 

Troughs for fowls — Trouglis f6r 'chicks — Hoppers — Shell 
and grit feeders — Automatic feeders — Pens and frames — 
Exerciser. 

CHAPTER H 

Fountains and Water Supply 

System for poultry plant — Self-feeding fountains — Covered 
fountains — Heated fountains — Water for chicks — Water for 
ducks. 

CHAPTER HI 

Mills and Food Machinery 

Bone and meat grinders — Food choppers — Fodder cutters 
^ — Grit machines. 

CHAPTER IV 

Convenient Roosts 

A model arrangement — Portable perches — Lice proof — 
Cold weather plans — Droppings boards and manure bins — 
For young chickens. 

CHAPTER [' 

Doors and Windows 

Divided door — Partition doors — Plan for self-opening — 
Convenient windows — Warm windows. 

CHAPTER rV 

Nesting Contrivances 

Essentials of a good nest — Two nests from one box — 
A locked nest — Wire nests — Movable arrangement — Nest for 
egg eaters — Homemade recording nest box — Combined nest 
and roosts — Nests for ducks. 



IV CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VII 

Helps in Hatching Season * 

The incubator problem — Grundy's advice on incubators — 
How to make an incubator — Egg tester — Cabinet, cases and 
carriers for eggs — Shipping case. 

CHAPTER J 'III 

From Incubator to Brooder- 

Brooder management — An expert's directions — Improved 
brooders — Cheap brooder — Large hot water system — Home- 
made device — Brooders for summer or mild climate. 

CHAPTER IX 

Traps for Poultry Pests 

The rat nuisance — Improved box trap — Cat trap — Skunk 
trap — Protection from hawks — Trapping a hawk. 

CHAPTER X 

Thirty Useful Devices 

Interior conveniences — Ventilators — Pulleys — Aids in 
cleaning houses — Dust baths — Feeding arrangements — Feed 
cookers — Anti-scratching devices — Poultry hooks — Exerciser 
for ducks — Cutting combs and wings — Protecting injured 
fowls. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Feeding Trough . 
Slatted Feeding Box 
Trough for Chicks 
Dry Feed for Chicks 
Feeding Hopper . 
Shell and Grit Feeder . 
Automatic Feeders 
Feeding Pens for Chickens 
Wire Frame . 
Automatic Trough 
Feeding by Clockwork . 
Feeding Board and Exercise 
System for Water Supply 
Tank Fountain 
Protection for Water Dish 
Covered Water Dishes . 
Winter Fountain . 
Lamp Water Heater 
Kettle and Heater . 
Fountain Warmer . 
Non-freezing Fountain . 
Chick Fountain 
General Purpose Fountain 
Water for Chicks . 
Casing for Water Can . 
Safe Water Dish . 
Oyster Can Fountain 
Box for Water Dish 
Pool for Ducks 
Drinking Water for Ducks 
Hand Bone Mills . 
Mounted Bone Mills 
Food Chopper 



PAGE 

I 

2 
2 

3 
4 

5 
6 
7 
7 
8 

9 

9 

II 

12 

13 
14 

15 
i6 

17 
i8 
19 

20 
20 
21 
22 
22 
23 
23 
24 
24 
26 
27 
28 



VI 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Root Cutters . 

Fodder Cutter 

Grit Pounder . 

Small Grit Pounder 

Grit Mill 

Improved Roost 

Low Improved Roost 

Portable Roost 

Portable Lice-proof Roost 

Lice-proof Supporter for Roost 

Kerosene Pan for Roost 

Cold Weather Roost 

Warm Roosts 

Separate Roosting Pens 

Roosts and Dropping Boards 

Roosts and Manure Bin 

Roosts for Chickens 

Combination Door 

Combination Door 

Self-opening Doors 

Warm Windows 

Protected Windows 

Double Windows 

Plain Nest Boxes 

Secure Nest Box 

Three Useful Nest Ideas 

Good Nesting Arrangements 

Trap Nest Boxes . 

Roost Protected by Nest 

Nest from a Candy Pail 

Nests for Ducks 

Plan for Homemade Incubator 

Section Plan of Incubator . 

Incubator Drawer and Heater 

Ventilator Box for Incubator 

Egg Tester 

Egg Cabinet . 

Egg Case 

Egg Carrier . 

Egg Shipping Case 



PAGE 

30 
31 
32 
32 
35 
36 
37 
37 
37 
37 
38 
39 
40 

41 
41 
42 

44 
45 
46 

47 
48 
49 
52 
53 
54 
55 
56 
57 
58 
59 
64 
6S 
65 
66 
70 

71 
72 
72 

73 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Vll 



Diagram of Brooder with Drum 

Improved Brooder . 

Brooder for Fifty Chicks 

Small Lamp Brooder 

Homemade Brooder 

The Sure Brooder . 

Heater, Water Barrel and Piping 

Diagram of Brooder 

Section View of Brooder 

Brooder for Mild Climate 

Outdoor Brooder and Run 

Improved Rat Trap 

Cat Trap 

Skunk Trap . 

Protection from Hawks 

Trapping a Hawk . 

Setting a Hawk Trap . 

Interior Conveniences . 

Good Ventilation . 

Screw Pulley . 

Homemade Pulley . 

Conveniences for Inside Work 

Dust Bath 

Outside Dust Bath 

For Dusting Fowls 

Heater for Poultry House 

Heater and Ventilator . 

Lamp Heater . 

Feed Cooker . 

Small Cooker for Stove 

Worm Box 

To Prevent Scratching . 

Shipping Crates 

Hook for Catching Poultry 

Duck at Exercise . 

Leghorns with Combs Cut 

Shield for Injured Fowls 

Holding a Pigeon . 



78 
79 
80 
81 
82 
83 
80 
87 
88 

89 
90 

93 
94 
95 
96 

97 
98 

lOI 

102 

103 
103 
104 

105 
106 
106 
107 
108 
109 
no 
III 

112 

113 
114 

116 
117 
118 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



ABOUT one hundred and fifty handy 
devices are explained and illustrated 
in this Uttle book. These have been 
selected for superior merit from a much 
larger number available. Here skilled poul- 
try keepers from all parts of the country 
have detailed the favorite short-cuts that 
have saved them most loss and trouble. 
Many new ideas have been added, making 
the whole a collection in a condensed form 
of the best practice in poultry mechanics 
and handicraft. The suggestions cover 
every department and stage of progress, 
from Qgg to market, and include all branches 
and grades of the business. Not every 
poultryman will need them all, but it is 
apparent that anyone who keeps chickens, 
turkeys or waterfowl will find among the 
number abundant practical hints for decreas- 
ing labor, waste and worry. 



CHAPTER I 



DEVICES FOR FEEDING 



A considerable part of the soft food is spoiled and 
wasted where it is fed on the ground or on boards and 
shingles. Where one hundred fowls are kept and 
twice the number of chickens raised, the loss by such 
methods may be reckoned at three to five bushels of 
feed a year. Feeding troughs are easily made, and will 
quickly save their value, besides tending to prevent the 
spread of disease so often resulting from placing the 
food where the fowls can soil it. 




FIG I : FEEDING TROUGHS 



Troughs and Boxes— Figure i shows at the 
left of the illustration a feed trough that hens cannot 
roost upon, cannot get their feet into, and at which 
they cannot well quarrel. A V-shaped body, with ends 
as shown, is made and a hinged cover placed so as to 
fold up against the long slope of the ends. A stout 
wire is strung from the top of one end to the top of 
the other, and from this wires extend down to nails 
driven into the front edge of the trough. When the 
food has been placed inside and the cover closed, the 
hens eat by sticking their heads through the up- 
right wires. 



2 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 

An excellent covered trough or box is shown at the 
right of Figure i. The top is hinged, and so can be 
raised to put the food inside. The fowls can then 
insert only their heads at the sides and ends. The roof- 
shaped top, having a sharp apex, affords no chance for 




FIG 2 : SLATTED FEEDING BOX 

getting upon the feed box, and remaining there, as is 
the case with flat-topped covers. This device will also 
aid in keeping the hens from pecking at each other 
when eating. 

A capacious slatted feed box is shown in Figure 2, 
suitable for soft feed or for grain. The hens cannot get 
into it or crowd each other. The cover, which slopes 
so they will not fly upon it, is covered with wire netting 
which permits grain to be thrown into the box without 




FIG 3 : TROUGH FOR CHICKS 



raising the cover. Hens do not like to fly up and light 
on this netting. A square pan may be placed in one 
end of this box in which to keep water, and in this 
position it can neither be soiled nor spilled. 

Young chickens while with the hen are serious 
wasters of soft food, whether fed wet or dry. Figure 3 



DEVICES FOR FEEDING 3 

illustrates a little troug^h for chicks. It is of wood 
two inches deep and ten inches long for thirty chicks. 
The ends are one and one-half inches higher, so a slat 
can be put on it to keep the dirt out of it. It should be 
placed in a coop where the larger birds cannot enter. 
A good feeder for dry cooked feed or dry meal and 
grain for chicks is shown in Figure 4. Make a trough 
exactly as for a pig except that it has a crack one-fourth 
of an inch wide at the bottom. Raise the trough a little 
above the ground by means of two strips, c, fastened 
to the ends, b, and place a board, d, beneath the crack 
of sufficient width that the chicks may eat from it ; two 
and one-half inches is sufficient. Cover the top, d, and 
the trough is complete. By it the food is kept fresh and 
clean, yet the chicks may help themselves at any time. 




FIG 4: DRY FEED FOR CHICKS 



Bement's feeding hopper is not a patent affair, 
and is a serviceable contrivance for those who practice 
the plan of letting the fowls help themselves to their 
ration of whole grain. In Figure 5, the end section 
shows size and operation, a is a flap or hinged door, 
to be opened and shut at pleasure; b, a hinged cover, 
through which feed is supplied ; c, an incline, throwing 
the corn or other grain as wanted into the feeding 
trough. This feeding hopper will answer a very good 
purpose where there are no rats or mice. 

Feeders for Shell, Bone and Grit — Sharp grit, 
broken oyster or clam shells and charcoal in granular 
form are necessary for the health and productiveness 
of fowls. An excellent box for supplying these is 



4 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 

shown in Figure 6. It is self-delivering, but the grat- 
ing or wire netting over the front keeps the fowls from 
throwing the material out with their bills, and thus 
wasting it. Kept before them in this way the hens 
need never be out of the necessary articles. 

A similar feeder with single compartment and no 
grating is shown at the right of the preceding in Figure 




7 inches. 

FIG 5 : FEEDING HOPPER 



7. It is filled at the top and is self-feeding. For winter 
use as grit nothing is quite so good as the small quarry 
stone fragments which may be obtained for almost 
nothing at any stoneyard. These are kept on hand, 
sifted to the right size, at the poultry supply stores and 
are now quite commonly used by the best professional 
poultry men. If there is no quarry or stoneyard near by, 
a grit that will answer very well is a barrel or two of 
gravelly sand, some of which should be shoveled into 



DEVICES FOR FEEDING 5 

the coop every week or two in winter. Oyster shells 
are not hard enough to take the place of grit. 

A simple and effective shell or grit feeder is de- 
picted in Figure 8. It can be made of any desired size. 
The essential points to the box are : The lid for filling, 
at I ; a board, 2, to prevent the shells becoming scat- 
tered about ; check board, 3, slanting backward with 
small space of one to two inches to hold grit, and the 
lower edge should be on a level with top of board, 2. 




FIGS 6 — 7: SHELL AND GRIT FEEDER 



Hang by hole, 4, just high enough so poultry can get ai 
the grit easily. The fowls pick it out over board 2, at 5. 
A shell feeder very easy to make is that shown at 
the right of the preceding in Figure 9. It is a good 
style where the shells and grit are mixed and fed from 
one box. The dotted lines, b h, indicate a sharp piece 
of tin bent to cover half of the holes in the inside to 
prevent shells from coming out too fast. The hole, a, 
in the back of the box, is to hang up the box. The box 
is filled with ground shells and hung up within easy 



b POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 

reach of the hens, who soon learn to pick the shells 
from the holes, c c. 

Feeding Pens for Young Chickens — Where large 
and small chickens run at large in the same lot the feed- 
ing of them becomes a difficult matter, as the larger 
crowd the weaker and take most of the food. Get one 
or more big but low dry goods or grocery boxes and 
remove a part of each side, as shown in Figure lo, at 
the left, making the opening just high enough to per- 
mit the small chicks to enter. Stretch a wire from 






FIGS 8 9: AUTOMATIC FEEDERS 



side to side at the top and throw feed inside for the 
younger broods. They will quickly learn to start for 
their own quarters when the feed dish appears. 

The cut at the right of Figure 10 shows a frame- 
work low at one end and much higher at the other, 
under which chickens of all ages and sizes can be fed, 
and each one allowed to eat in peace. All sizes of chicks 
fed together in an open space results in the big ones 
trampling on the smaller, and robbing them of their 
share. Some such arrangement as that shown is abso- 



DEVICES FOR FEEDING 7 

lately essential where chickens have to be hatched dur- 
ing a considerable space of time in the spring. An ideal 
condition is to have the chicks all early and all of a 
size, but few can accomplish this desirable end. 

A wire-topped feeding frame appears in Fig- 
ure II. The framework of the rack proper is about 








FIG 10 : FEEDING PENS FOR CHICKENS 

forty inches square and consists of two-inch strips 
nailed to four small two by two posts about five inches 
high, thus leaving a space of about three inches between 
the frame and ground for the chickens to enter. The 
top is covered with wire netting and the cross sticks 
are inserted to keep it from sagging. 




FIG II 



WIRE FRAME 



Automatic Feeder — This plan, shown in Figure 
12, may be used for grain, shells, scraps or grit, and 
may be adapted to fowls of any age and size. It is 
simple in construction and may be of any size desired, 
but for thirty or forty hens it should be about one foot 
wide, three feet long and one and one-half feet high. 



5 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT . 

The ends, a a, should be cut as shown, then a board 
as wide as the ends and as long as the feeder should 
be nailed horizontally between the ends as they stand 
upright and four inches below the shoulders. Cut 
the sides, b b, and nail in position, next make a V- 
shaped trough as long as the feeder and invert between 
the lower edges of ^ ^ to keep the food from running 
out too much at once. Nail on strips, c c, which should 
be four inches wide, and put on a cover with hinges. 
Feeding by Clockwork — A feed box as in Figure 
13 may be quite easily arranged to open at a certain 
hour each morning or afternoon, thus providing for the 




FIG 12: AUTOMATIC TROUGH 

fowls during the keeper's absence. Any alarm clock 
with a fixed key will answer. Unscrew the key that 
winds the alarm by turning it backward. Have a piece 
of thin but strong iron, about four inches long, welded 
to the key, so that it protrudes beyond the clock. 

Make a box, of any desired shape, but with a 
cover on hinges that protrudes beyond the box, having 
the part that protrudes heavier than the part that covers 
the box, so that the box will open when not prevented 
from doing so by the piece of iron, a, or the alarm key 
of the clock. Set the alarm for the hour it is desired to 
feed, do not wind it too tight, and have the alarm key 



DEVICES FOR FEEDING 9 

pointing- in the same direction as the minute hand does 
when five minutes before the hour. 

Have the clock secured to a block of wood, so that 
the lid of the box is kept closed by the alarm key, a. 
When the alarm goes off, at feeding time, the alarm 




FIG 13 : FEEDING BY CLOCKWORK 

key will turn and the feed box open. The hens will 
soon get used to the alarm bell, and run for their feed 
when they hear it. The same plan can be used for 
feeding a horse, by having the alarm key support the 
bottom of the box, which opens with a hinge and allows 



^^m^^m^^^ 



FIG 14: FEEDING-BOARD AND EXERCISER 



the feed to drop in the manger. The alarm key must 
be well screwed on to the clock, using a small piece of 
twine or glue on the thread of the screw, and the clock 
must be set well back on the block of wood, so as not 
to prevent the alarm key revolving. 



10 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 

Feeding for Exercise — Plenty of eg-gs and fertile 
ones never come from fowls that are allowed to stuff 
themselves and sit on roosts and boxes all the time until 
they become sluggish and overfat. The feed board 
illustrated in Figure 14 is recommended by H. H. Stod- 
dard. A series of boards are firmly joined to reach 
across all the pens, being attached by wires to the raft- 
ers. A supply of fine grain, like wheat, is placed on the 
boards over each pen, and shaken down a little at a time 
by a blow from a hammer applied at one end. The 
grain falls into several inches of litter below, and the 
fowls scratch for it. 



CHAPTER II 

FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY 

The weak point about most large poultry plants is a 
poor water supply. Usually the water is carried to 
each flock in pails and poured into the dishes or foun- 
tains, with much labor and with poor results. 

When large numbers of birds are kept, it is of 
course desirable that a system be adopted for saving 
labor. A practical system in use is where the water is 



■ViArCfi COCK 



W/ATiH COCK. 



--ViAl£R COCK. 



FIG 15: SYSTEM FOR WATER SUPPLY 



supplied by inch pipes and having a cock in each pen 
directly over the water trough. Figure 15 shows a 
diagram drawing of this plan. The flow of the cocks 
is regulated by having the one in the first pen run very 
slowly and gradually increasing the flow of water in 
each pen. Thus all the troughs will be full at the same 
time. The pipe may rest on the fencing which divides 



12 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



the runs. This plan of watering, designed by G. C. 
Watson of the Pennsylvania experiment station, can 
also be used in brooder houses to good advantage. 

It is important to give fowls fresh, clean drink. A 
tank shown in Figure i6 is well worth copying. The 
upper part may be a syrup can with ^he bottom cut off. 




FIG l6: TANK FOUNTAIN 



In front at the lower edge a V-shaped notch may be 
cut three-quarters of an inch deep. On the opposite 
side, at the top, a bucket ear may be soldered. At the 
sides of the bottom and near the corners, narrow strips 
projecting outward should be soldered to slide under 



FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY 



13 



corresponding strips on the bottom pan. The pro- 
iectin^ tins should be double to gain strength. Let 
the pan be an inch and a half deep and at least one inch 
larger in front. It may fit comfortably at the sides and 
back to slide easily. Let the can be turned bottom side 
up, filled and inverted. It may then be hung up to suit 
the fowls, the ear soldered on at the top of the back 
slipping over the hook in the wall. Such a tank is best 
made of galvanized iron. It is a satisfactory affair for 
poultry of any age. 




FIG 17: PROTECTION FOR WATER DISH 

For Clean Water— Where plain open dishes are 
used as on most farms, they should be put inside a 
crate to keep the birds from stepping into them or sit- 
ting on the edge. An old berry crate will do very well. 
One made to order is shown in Figure 17. It is a box 
and it needs no back, as the highest side is to be set 
against the wall. The top is hinged so it can be raised 
to set the basin in, and there is a shelf six inches from 
the bottom to hold the basin and slats in front. I he 
hens cannot stand on it nor in it, nor scratch dirt into it. 



14 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



Another ingenious plan for keeping the water clean 
appears at the left of Figure i8. A board bi>acket is 
nailed to a post or to one of the studding timbers and 
on the under side of it is horizontally fastened a square 
piece of broad board which serves as a shelf to keep the 
droppings from falling into the drinking vessel below. 
The vessel should be of such a hight that the fowds can- 
not get between it and the shelf so as to roost on the 
edge of the vessel. Blocks may be placed below it 
for this purpose. At the same time the shelf should 
be sufficiently high that the fowl need only to stoop 




FIG 11 



COVERED WATER DISHES 



very slightly to drink. This simple contrivance will 
be found of great service in protecting the drinking 
water which must be given to the fowls in their houses 
on stormy or very cold days. 

The fountain shown at the right side of Figure 
1 8 will also keep the water fairly clean, besides having 
a distinct merit of its own. Such breeds as the Leg- 
horns, Minorcas and some others have such large combs 
and wattles that there is much danger in watering them 
in winter from open dishes. They wet these head appen- 
dages, then become chilled and many times frozen. A 
device for avoiding this is shown in the cut. A dish, 



FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY 



15 



whose sides do not flare at all, is fitted with a circular 
piece of board that will loosely fit inside. In this 
board are four or more small round openings, through 
which the fowls can thrust their beaks, but not their 
combs or wattles. As the water is consumed the board 
falls, bringing the surface always within reach. 

Heated Fountains — Water from which the chill 
has been warmed away is a stimulant to egg produc- 
tion, just as it is to the milk flow when given to cattle. 
The illustration shows a plan which has been used in a 




ro^ »ttut^ 



♦ • ^-- ••■• • • -.— ji [...■<-:'~''J:^ V -'^ "■•*.!.- :^".* I''- '.'1 -"r*. ! .*.".! ; 

FIG 19: WINTER FOUNTAIN 



cold climate all last winter, keeping the water free 
from ice during the severest weather. 

The one in Figure 19 holds about thirteen 
gallons, but could be made to contain twice that 
quantity if desired. It is a capital idea for both 
summer and winter. Anyone can make the frame for 
the fountain and any tinsmith can make a galvanized 
tank after this pattern. The cost of the frame, includ- 
ing end rods and braces, will not be over fifty cents, 
while the tank will cost about fifteen cents per pound, 
all made. In summer it should be kept out of doors, 



l6 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 

either on grass or a wood platform, so the ducks and 
geese cannot foul the water. A shade of some kind 
should be furnished. 

During the winter the fountain should be fur- 
nished with a base, as indicated by dotted lines. Use 
a brooder stove in freezing weather. It will be unneces- 
sary to burn the stove during the night, for a very 




FIG 20: LAMP WATER HEATER 

little heat will thaw it out in the morning. It will be 
better to set the fountain between two pens, for the 
birds can drink from both sides, as may be seen in the 
picture. 

In constructing one of these fountains, loose pin 
butt hinges are used to fasten the bottom to the top. 



FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY \^ 

The rod or axle on which it rests goes completely 
through the fountain and is of galvanized iron, being 
soldered around it to make it tight. When filling, the 
fountain is turned bottom up and made fast by the 
little hooks, as seen in the cut. The rod should be 
exactly in the center of the tank. The principle is the 
same as in all fountains that turn in the hand, only the 
frame in which it rests makes it possible to increase 

the size. 

A fountain like that in Figure 20 may be kept from 
freezing at very little expense for oil, and it works per- 




FIG 21 : KETTLE AND HEATER 

fectly if the funnel part is carefully soldered where it 
joins the dish. Take a plain side, cake-baking tin 
with a funnel in the center ; also, a butter firkin or nail 
keg, and a small naphtha hand lamp (without the cot- 
ton filling). Place the lamp on the bottom of the 
firkin, lower the tin until the wick of the lamp is half 
an inch up the funnel, now insert four screws in the 
bottom of the firkin, opposite to each other, and just 
above the bottom of the tin. These pressing against 
the slanting sides of the tin will support, and turned 
out or in will raise or lower the tin. Tack the firkin 



l8 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 

hoops at the top, middle and bottom, between top and 
middle hoop on two sides, cut out one or two staves 
to allow the fowls a place to reach the water. Nail a 
piece of tin, loosely, on under side of cover, also a 
strap or rope on lirkin for a bail, and it is complete. 
Use kerosene, and regulate the flame to prevent 
smoking. 

Figure 21 shows a very simple but effective heated 
fountain which can be rigged up in fifteen minutes 
with common tools. The top of a box is covered with 
zinc or sheet iron, projecting at the ends enough to 
make a stand for the fowls while drinking, or if pre- 




FIG 2.2: FOUNTAIN WARMER 

f erred, the box may be partly sunk in the earth and 
banked a little at the ends. A common hand lamp is 
placed in the box under the metal cover, which should 
not come within three or four inches of the chimney. 
A very small blaze is enough, and none is needed on 
mild days. The iron kettle holding the water should be 
a large one. Keep the fowls off the edge by a partition 
of tin, as shown. 

Fountain Warmer — Figure 22 shows a patent con- 
trivance furnished by the supply stores, and so ar- 
ranged that food and water or water and milk may be 



FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY I9 

kept warm and free from ice. Fountain and feed box 
work automatically. Oil is burned. The idea could be 
combined with the fountain shown in Figure 19 or 21 
so that more than one substance may be kept warm 
from a single lamp. 

Anti-Freeze Fountain — An earthen jug is so fas- 
tened into the half barrel by means of crosspieces that 
its mouth will come near the bottom of the tub, upon 
one side — a piece of a stave being removed at that 




FIG 23 : NON-FREEZING FOUNTAIN 

point (Figure 23). The space around the jug is filled 
with fermenting horse manure, and slats are nailed 
across, when the "fountain" is ready for use. Fill the 
jug with water and cork it ; then invert the tub, bring- 
ing the mouth of the jug over a basin, as shown in the 
engraving. When the cork is withdrawn the water will 
flow until the mouth of the jug is covered ; it will then 
cease, and as the water is used, more will come from the 
jug, and so on, forming a continuous self-actiup- foun- 



20 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 



tain. Such a contrivance will keep the water from 
freezing, except in the coldest winter weather. The jug 
should be emptied at night. 




FIG 24: CHICK FOUNTAIN 











FIG 25 : GENERAL PURPOSE FOUNTAIN 



Chick Fountains — A fountain for little chickens 
should be so arranged that they can always get water 
without soiling it or running the risk of drowning. 
Many of the chick fountains are also very good for 



FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY 21 

fowls of all ages. The simplest form is that of the 
bottle or can filled and placed mouth down over a plate 
or shallow dish. An improved forfn is shown in Fig- 
ure 24. Select one of the gallon-size fruit cans and set 
it upside down in a tin cake dish from the five-cent 
counter. Make two dents in the edge of the can, as 
shown, and fit a wire from one edge of the plate up 
over the can, and down to the other side. If preferred, 
a pail maybe used, as shown at the right of the basin, 




WATER FOR CHICKS 



the cover fitting air-tight and holes being punched near 
the bottom. 

Figure 25 is also a fountain from an old fruit can 
with the top soldered tight again, a hole punched near 
the bottom and a lip soldered on to hold the flow. All 
the preceding chick fountains, as also the bottle foun- 
tain in Figure 26, depend on keeping the tank air-tight 
above the water line, so that the water can escape only 
as fast as the chicks drink it, thus admitting air from 
below. 

Figure 26 explains itself. A bottle holding one or 
two gallons will work as well as the small one shown. 



22 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



It should be fitted with a cork having a groove at one 
side for convenience when replacing the bottle after 
refilling. A shallow dish may be used instead of the 
wooden box. 

Figure 2^ shows the invention of an exasperated 
poultryman whose hens with chicks insisted on scratch- 




FIG 2"] : CASING FOR WATER CAN 

ing over the water dish as soon as possible. It is of 
four square pieces of plank, all but the lower section 
being hollowed out enough to admit the water can. 
The whole thing being quite heavy, it cannot be upset 
by the fowls. If the dish is a deep one, a stone should 
be kept in it to prevent chicks from drowning. 




FIG 28: SAFE WATER DISH 



A water dish in which chicks are never drowned 
appears in Figure 28. There is a wooden box eighteen 
inches long and four inches wide. It should be about 
two inches deep on the inside. The cover is a board 
one inch thick, with four or five three-fourths-inch 



FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY 



23 



holes bored through it. Make the cover a httle smaller 
than the box, so it will go easily inside. Fill box half 
full of water and allow board to float on top. The 
board will support the weight of the chick and the 
water will rise about half way through the holes. 
Using this, the chicks will not get wet. 




FIG 29: OYSTER-CAN FOUNTAIN 

A similar effect is secured in a very simpie way 
in Figure 29. Take an oyster can and cut an opening 
on one side, as illustrated. It cannot be turned over, 
and water will not spill out when carrying it. When 




FIG 30: BOX FOR WATER DISH 



full it will hold enough water for about fifteen chicks 
one day. It will cost but little, as it can be made of any 



24 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



size by a tinner in a short time, if desired of larger 
capacity. 

Protection for Water Dish — Make a shallow box 
and hinge to it a cover of slats made of laths, as in 




i^/^ 



FIG 31 : POOL FOR DUCKS 

Figure 30. Through these the fowls can reach the 
water, but cannot soil it. Have the box just large 
enough to set the dish of water within, and shut the 




FIG 32 : DRINKING WATER FOR DUCKS 



slat cover down over it. A similar device for giving 
water in a way to keep the fowls out of the water vessel 
is to have a moderately high box, with slats up and 



FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY 25 

down one side. Then set the water dish within, and 
the fowls can drink through the slats. The top of the 
box, or cover, should be sloping, to keep the fowls off 
from it. 

Water for Ducks — Where no pool of water is at 
hand for ducks, a small pool can easily be made for 
them, as in Figure 31. Dig a square hole eight inches 
deep and as large as desired. Put eight-inch boards 
around the sides. Now tamp down the bottom hard 
and level, and coat the surface with an inch of cement, 
bringing the coating up to the top of the boards at the 
sides, of the same thickness as the bottom. Drive shin- 
gle nails thickly into the boards to give the cement 
something to cling to. In the same way a pool for a 
''water garden" can be made for the growing of 
aquatic plants. 

Where the object is merely to supply the abun- 
dance of drinking water so necessary to young ducks 
at feeding time, a large flat trough, as in Figure 32, 
will answer the purpose. 



CHAPTER III 

MILLS AND FOOD MACHINERY 

Prepared foods, grit, shells, meat and clover, may 
be bought at most large agricultural stores. Special 
home machines for such purposes are therefore not 
positively required even where a complete food assort- 




FIG 33 : HAND BONE MILLS 



ment is wanted. But where home resources are to be 
utilized to full extent and every penny saved, a few 
good food machines will pay well for the keeping. 

Bone j\Iills — One of these machines is needed on 
every farm, since it affords the only means of makir^g 



MILLS AND FOOD MACHINERY 



27 



full use of the bone refuse which is constantly accumu- 
lating. A first-class mill will work bone and flesh of 
dead animals and the waste from the table or market 
into pieces that can be swallowed by the fowls. 

By grinding and feeding the bones their full value 
is secured, as they furnish a first-class Qgg food, while 
most of the fertilizing value is secured in the manure. 
Manure from animal food is nearly as rich as guano. 

Several types of the hand bone mill are shown in 
Figure 33. The two upper mills are for dry bones 




FIG 34: MOUNTED BONE MILLS 



only, and are therefore less useful for general pur- 
poses. They cost about five dollars each, but some of 
this type are sold as low as two dollars and a half. 

The two mills at lower part of Figure 33 are for 
green bones. The first pattern works with a chopping 
motion. The second, one of the oldest and most popu- 
lar styles, has a cutting action. Both are good for their 
size, but to operate them with heavy bones is tedious 
work. For a good-sized flock it is best to have a large 



28 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



mill as shown in Figure 33, arranging it to run by 
power attachment if possible. A one-horse sweep 
power will drive a good-sized machine. Figure 34 
shows the Ohio, Mann and Adam makes, besides 
which there are many others equally effective. Bones, 
if tolerably fresh, and meat may be quite freely fed if 
the fowls are watched and the quantity reduced at first 
sign of bowel disorder. The larger machines cost from 




FIG 35 : FOOD CHOPPER 



eight dollars to twenty-five dollars, according to size 
and style. 

Food Choppers — Where plenty of liver, lights or 
other solid meat can be had cheap from slaughter 
houses, such meat will ftirnish the best form of animal 
food. It can be worked up very fast in a large, strong 
meat cutter like that shown in Figure 35, which will 
cut three or four pounds a minute, fine or coarse, and 



MILLS AND FOOD MACHINERY 



29 



can be bought of the supply stores for about two dol- 
lars, with a choice of several different makes. These 
machines will work up any kind of soft refuse food. 
For Vegetables and Fodder — For reducing green 
vegetables, root pulpers, as shown in Figure 36, are 




FIGS 36 37 : ROOT CUTTERS 



useful. Machines may be had which will answer for 
cattle and for poultry also. Fowls will consume large 
quantities of finely-cut vegetables, reducing the grain 
bill and maintaining the relaxed condition of the sys- 
tem favorable to egg production. 

Cut fodder will always pay for fowls in close 
quarters or in winter where snow covers the ground. 
The old style hand lever cutters will cut clover or 
rowen fine enough for chickens. Some styles of the 
wheel cutters, like the one in Figure 2>7^ are made with 



30 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 



special reference to needs of poultry and can be set to 
cut very short. In summer the lawn mower affords a 
convenient supply of short, tender grass for chicks and 
older fowls in yards. The surplus should be kept for 
winter use. 




FIG 38: FODDER CUTTER 



To Balance a Small Mill — Attach a small crank 
mill such as is used for grinding coffee and grain for 
household use to the balance wheel of a corn sheller, 
fodder cutter or similar weighty machine, simply tying 
the handle of the mill to a spoke of the large wheel. 
The mill, if not already secure, should be bolted to the 
wall at the right hight for the power. A mill geared 



MILLS AND FOOD MACHINERY 



31 



this way may be driven very fast for coarse grinding, 
and is very convenient for preparing special mixtures 
for poultry or for cooking purposes. A small bone 
cutter may be operated in the same manner. 

Grit Pounders — To keep poultry in thrift, and 
furnish material for eggshells, lime is necessary, as we 
have said. Oyster shells and clam shells are much 
used. To pound these, a log of wood may be slightly 




FIG 39: GRIT POUNDER 



hollowed at one end, and surrounded with a piece of 
tin (Figure 39), an opening being left to admit the 
handle of the pestle, which is like a wooden mallet, the 
striking end being armed with small bolts, driven into 
the wood so as to leave the heads exposed. A ring to 
prevent splitting will be an improvement. 

Another style, good for crockery and glass, is 
shown in Figure 40. Take a piece of railway iron 
about two feet long, and make a box without top or 



32 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



bottom, one foot high, and just wide and long enough to 
fit neatly over the rail. Place the dishes, etc, in this 
mortar and break up with an old ax or sledge. When 
done remove box and let the chickens at the grit. 





FIG 40: SMALL GRIT POUNDER 




FIG 41 : GRIT MILL 



MILLS AND FOOD MACHINERY 33 

A very powerful grit machine is that in Figure 
41. It does rapid work with crockery, glass or shells, 
crushing them with an action much like that of a pair 
of strong jaws. The grinders are the six-foot arms, 
d d, shod with roughened iron plates above the pivots 
at I, and moved to and fro by means of the lever, K. 

The frame, ab a b/is four by five feet, made of tim- 
ber four by six inches. The hopper, / J, is one foot 
deep. The pivots at /, b, e, e, are stout bolts set to play 
freely, but the bolt at g i is screwed tight. The small 
side drawing shows construction of grinder arms. 



CHAPTER IV 

CONVENIENT ROOSTS 

The most simple form of good roost comprises a 
series of straight poles, two inches thick and with bark 
left on. They should be all on a level and not more 
than three feet from the ground. They may extend 
straight across the building, each pole resting in a 
socket cut into a frame joist of each side, thus allowing 
each or all poles to be easily removed for cleaning. 
Lightness and a neat appearance will be gained if two 
by four building joists with two of the corners rounded 
ofif are used in place of poles. 

Another decided improvement it to attach the 
roosts to a frame, and attach the whole by hinges and a 
cord, as in Figure 42, thus allowing the frame to shut 
down close against the wall. The cord, c, is hung from 
the roof and is hooked to the frame. At cf is a support 
to steady the frame. 

A modification of this plan is shown in Figure 43, 
which represents a very low roost for young chickens 
or for heavy breeds. The frame of roosts simply rests 
upon the floor, and when moved it is leaned back 
against the wall in direction of dotted lines, c c. The 
bars of this roost are made flat to prevent crooked 
breast bones, often resulting in heavy young birds 
from pressure against small or sharp roosts. 

Portable perches are shown in Figures 44 and 45. 
They are very handy, not only at cleaning time, but to 
be transferred from one house to another. In Figure 
44 is a simple form of single pole on V-shaped frame 



CONVENIENT ROOSTS 



35 



with droppings board below. In Fignre 45 are two 
poles. It prevents the chickens from crowding at ends 
of perches, as the ends do not connect with the sides 
or ends of building. The kerosene cups prevent ver- 
min from working to and from any part of the building 




FIG 42 : IMPROVED ROOST 



on the chickens at night. The coop is more easily kept 
free from vermin, and does away with whitewashing 
and cleanhig in a great measure. They are not expen- 
sive, and in manv cases the standards can be mortised 



36 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



in the four beams, and then would require only four 
pieces of timber. Perches are fourteen inches high, 
made of two by fours, and are twenty-two inches wide. 
The perches are not mortised all the way through and 
are not fastened. 

Vermin Proof — The preceding cut, Figure 45, 
shows the supports of the roost protected by an oil cup. 



cA 



/ 



§ 



1 

1. 














i'l' 






-■'■ |!'' 


llih:- 












-'' 


'' 






c. 


i 


J 








1; 


s 


5 


M 


^ 


^*^ 




ill. 


^ 


# 


m 


i 




ri 


. '''".' 






FIG 43: LOW IMPROVED ROOST 



In Figure 46 appears a somewhat similar device, where 
the pole rests on the point of a malleable iron bracket. 
In the illustration, A is a saucer shaped collar, B the 
cavity in the collar, D a hole bored through the two by 
four roost scantling C. It is designed that kerosene oil 
be poured through D until B is filled and this will keep 
the little red mites from crawling from the ground and 



CONVENIENT ROOSTS 



37 




FIG 44: PORTABLE ROOST 




FIG 45 : PORTABLE LICE-PROOF ROOST 





FIG 46: LICE-PROOF SUPPORTER FOR ROOST 




FIG 47 : KEROSENE PAN FOR ROOST 



38 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 

sides of the building to the roost, The brackets 
should be placed upon opposite sides of the building, 
so that each roost will extend clear across. The hole 
in the roost should be made so large that it can be 
easily taken off. 

A plan slightly more simple is depicted in Figure 
47, where the roost pole rests in a square pan or metal 
box. The pan is charged with water, on top of which 
floats a layer of oil. 

Cold Weather Plans — Where a small flock of Leg- 
horns, or other tender, large-combed breed, is kept, it 
is important to provide a very warm roosting place for 
them if winter eggs are to be looked for in severe 




COLD WEATHER ROOST 



climates. Figure 48 shows a simple way to make such 
a warm roosting place. The barrels shut up close to- 
gether in use, and the fowls enter and leave by the 
opening that is shown. The barrels can be removed 
as warm weather approaches, and the usual roosts 
substituted. 

In Figure 49 is shown one end of the poultry house 
partitioned off, and the separated portion divided in 
two by a platform at the middle point from floor to 
ceiling. The upper part contains the roosts and below 
is a dusting i)lace, with a small window toward the sun. 
In front is a hinged door that shuts up before the roosts 
at night to provide warmth, and shuts down over the 



CONVENIENT ROOSTS 



39 



dusting room in the daytime for warmth. Two round 
openings give entrance to the dusting room and ventila- 
tion to both places. 

Writes J. E. Jones of Wayne county, New York : 
"Aly plan of keeping Light Brahma fowls warm winter 
nights is as shown in Figure 50, at the left of the illus- 
tration. It appears, after due experience, to be best 




FIG 49: WARM ROOSTS 



with Brahmas and Cochins to have no roosts, but to 
have the fowls sit upon the floor at night. The floor 
should have a thick coating of road dust or loam, and 
upon this a thick coat of leaves or straw. On such a 
floor fowls will rest most comfortably. If roosts are 
provided, even low ones, some of the fowls will not go 



40 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 



Upon them, their great weight making them timid. 
They will huddle on the floor under the roost, where 
they would become cold, and their plumage probably 
soiled in the morning. A low, small addition is made 
to the regular poultry quarters, the hight not being 
more than half that of the latter. Across the front 
of the opening is a burlap curtain, hung on a wire, 
which is drawn across the opening on cold nights, mak- 
ing the fowls very warm within. This low addition 





FIG 50 : SEPARATE ROOSTING PENS 



can very easily be made if the poultry quarters are in 
another building, the night quarters being let out into 
the room adjacent." 

Another curtain plan for cold weather appears in 
Figure 50 at the right. Have all the perches, b, in one 
end of the coop and fasten rings to the ceiling so that 
a heavy burlap or flannel curtain, a, may be hung, 
dividing the coop. There will be enough natural heat 
from the fowls' bodies to warm this smaller space in 
the coldest weather. Hang the curtain in place after 
the fowls go to roost. 



CONVENIENT ROOSTS 



41 



Droppings Boards— These are convenient where 
the droppings are removed often, as they should be in 
summer, at least. The convenient roosting device 
shown in Figure 51 is submitted by Mrs J. Fairbank, 
a successful Pacific coast poultrywoman, who writes : 



^oosrj 



^oojrJ 




FIG 51 : ROOSTS AND DROPPING BOARDS 




FIG 52 : ROOSTS AND MANURE BIN 

"To arrange this plan of roosting and dropping boards 
first take a two by eight plank, sixteen inches long, nail 
one end to the floor, five feet from the north side. 
Take a one by eight-inch board, five feet long, to which 
nail a cleat sixteen inches from the floor and nail the 



42 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



Other end of the board to the side of the wall. Nail the 
bottom board, one by eight feet, on top of a short end 
piece. Cut rafter two by four inches by six feet. Nail 
rafter to short plank and to meet other rafters, and nail 
on boards to make slanting- platform. Chaff should be 
placed in the space under the dropping boards, thus 
making the entire floor available for exercise. Hoe 
the droppings from the bottom board into a box." 

Roost and Manure Bin — Figure 52 shows one of 
the best plans for caring for poultry manure. The 




FIG 53 : ROOSTS FOR CHICKENS 



manure bin is built against the side of the pen, and has 
a single roost in the center above it. 

The front of this triangular box is detachable and 
is taken away when the manure is to be removed. This 
need not occur until the box is full, plaster or road 
dust being scattered over the surface every morning, 
which will prevent the giving off of ammonia or un- 
pleasant odors. A special advantage of this plan is 
that it takes no floor space and does away with the ne- 



CONVENIENT ROOSTS 43 

cessity of removing the droppings every day, as in the 
case of the ordinary platform beneath the roosts. 

Roosts for Chickens — As the chickens obtain size, 
they may be taught to go to roost in some room that is 
not occupied. Here they will be always under cover 
and safe at night from their enemies. Make the roost 
of broad strips of board, to prevent crooked breast 
bones, and to reduce the risk of vermin use the plan 
of hanging the roosts shown in Figure 53. The strips 
rest on horizontal wires, to which they are stapled be- 
neath, and are held firmly up by wires from the ceiling. 
Number 12 wire is stout enough. The same plan may 
be used to advantage in the regular poultry house. 



CHAPTER V 



DOORS AND WINDOWS 



A poorly made, badly hung door will be a prime 
nuisance so long as it lasts, and becomes worse year 
by year. The doorpost should be large and heavy and 
well braced to prevent sagging. If set in the ground 
it should reach down several feet. Leather hinges 
should not be used even for a slat gate, but rather the 




FIG 54: COMBINATION DOOR 



strap iron hinges, which are not costly and a good 
supply of which should be kept on hand. 

A divided door for a poultry house appears in 
Figure 54, giving a combuiation for both summer and 
winter use. The lower half has laths nailed to the 
inside and covering the space filled by the upper half 



DOORS AND WINDOWS 



45 



of the door. The latter may be opened in summer for 
ventilation. When shut and secured by the button 
on the lower half, the whole becomes a solid door. 
The same arrangement will also be found useful m 
ventilating the poultry quarters upon warm days in 
winter Such ventilation, with plenty of sunlight 
to keep the place warm, and litter in which the fowls 
must scratch for food so as to get exercise, are prime 
requisites to success with poultry in winter. 




FIG 55 : COMBINATION DOOR 

Door Between Pens— Where a long poultry build- 
ing is divided into a number of pens the divisions 
must be boarded at the bottom to prevent the fowls, 
particularly the males, from fighting. A good door 
for such a division is shown in Figure 55. It is made 
of lath in the ordinary way, but has the laths at the 
lower part very near together, the spaces growing 
more open as they go up. This prevents fightmg, 
makes a handsome gate and one easily constructed. 



46 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



Self-Opening Door — Fix the coop as shown in the 
diagram (Figure 56), and the chicks will let them- 
selves out of their coops. When one gets upon the 
board with grain upon it, he pulls the latch open over- 
head, and the door in front falls. Even without the 
grain, chicks will open the door. The same device can 
be used for hens in their houses. 

Still another plan to avoid early rising appears 
in Figure 57. Have boards fitted to slide across the 




FIGS 56 57 : SELF-OPENING DOORS 



doorway of the chicken quarters, and a long hook, to 
keep the door partly open. Put in one board at first, 
and teach the chicks to fly up over it at night. Then 
put in another board, and presently another. Then 
animals cannot get in at night, while the chicks can go 
out at dawn. By varying hight of board the device 
can be adapted to chickens of any age. 

Good Windows — Common square or rectangular 
sashes are best for general purposes, and they can 



DOORS AND WINDOWS 



47 



usually be had cheap at auction sales or from dis- 
mantled buildings. These windows are, of course, set 
vertically into the wall, as they will not shed water well 
if set "at much of a slant. Slanting windows must be 
without crossbars and the ends of the panes must over- 
lap as in hotbed sashes. Slanting windows usually 
give more trouble than they are worth, are constantly 
leaking or breaking, and are not durable. One wmdow 
to a pen is enough and each one should be made easily 




FIG 58: WARM WINDOWS 

removable in summer. The space may be protected 
with wire netting, which may be left on the whole year. 
If new glass must be bought, the second or third grades 
will answer. For doing a cheap job, crossbars are not 
absolutelv needed, as if the panes are fitted closely and 
firmly in 'the upright bars, the ends of the panes may be 
brought together without a bar between. Brads may 
be used instead of putty glazing. A window thus 
made is a cold affair and is not desirable for severe 
climates. 



48 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT . 



Warm Windows — Many poultry houses have 
twice the glass that is desirable. The houses get very 
warm in the daytime and very cold at night in winter. 
An excellent remedy is shown in Figure 58. The upper 
portion of each sash is removed and a solid board shut- 
ter substituted. This can be opened during the warm 
part of each day, giving the fowls outdoor air with 
indoor scratching opportunities. Even on cold days 
these shutters can be opened for a half hour, to thor- 



juistJt. 




FIGS 59 60 : PROTECTED WINDOWS 



oughly air the building. In summer the shutters can 
be opened a little way and fastened, the open space 
being slatted to prevent the fowls from going out. 
This will keep the house cool at that season. 

Ordinary windows let in much cold about their 
sides. A helpful plan is to screw wide pieces of board 
around the outside of the sash, allowing the strips to 
project two or more inches all around the sash, as 
shown in Figure 60. Nail strips to the wall around 
this extended sash and hinge the strips to the exten- 



DOORS AND WINDOWS 



49 



sion of the sash. The window can thus be opened 
readily, but when closed no cracks are left unstopped. 
With sashes hinged in this way, the windows of poul- 
try houses may be opened during the warmer and 
sunnier portions of the day, giving almost the same 
conditions as are found in open scratching sheds, but 
without the inconveniences of the latter. 





FIG 6l : DOUBLE WINDOWS 



No farm building more greatly needs double win- 
dows in winter than the poultry house, but there is the 
trouble of securing proper "airing out" of the house 
on pleasant days in winter, where double windows are 
used. A double window that can be opened and then 
closed tightly against the entrance of wind is shown 
in Figure 6i. The top and bottom are fitted to pieces 
of wood of such shape and fitting that air cannot enter. 



50 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 

The whole is then hinged and swung- as one window. 
One window in a house fitted in this way, with the 
outside door, will give ample opportunity for ventilat- 
ing the house every sunny morning. The rest of the 
windows can be of the ordinary double pattern. 



CHAPTER VI 



NESTING CONTRIVANCES 



A good nest is both safe and attractive. It should 
be large enough so that two hens at the same time will 
not break eggs. It should be low at one side so that 
hens need not jump down upon the eggs. It should 
have a cover for seclusion and to keep idle fowls from 
roosting on the edge. The opening should face away 
from the light, as darkness discourages egg-eating and 
other forms of interference on the part of mischief 
makers. For similar reasons the box should be about 
two and one-half feet above the floor. An alighting 
board in front of the entrance will afford the layer a 
chance to enter carefully, as her instinct teaches. The 
nest filling should be renewed twice a year, and also 
whenever used several weeks by a sitter. The filling 
should be abundant enough to prevent breakage and 
should be free from coarse or thorny material. The 
presence of a nest tgg will usually prevent scratching, 
but if very young birds are there, they may pull the hay 
about somewhat. In such cases a filling of shavings or 
excelsior may be used, and care should be taken not 
to drop grain into the nests. Nests should be numer- 
ous and all about alike, so that none will be over- 
crowded. If raised well above the floor the space they 
occupy will not be missed. Every box should be ar- 
ranged for easy and quick removal when desired. 

A very simple nest and easily made, is de- 
scribed by A. B. Hewitt, who writes : 'T make them 
of old soap, candle or starch boxes. Take the box 



52 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 

with the Hd nailed on and four inches from one end 
rule a line as shown by the dotted line in the first illus- 
tration in Figure 62. Then mark the other end of 
the box on the opposite sides in the same way, also 
shov/n by the dotted line. Now saw the box wiiere 
these lines are, and it will make two nests like the one 
shown in the second half of the figure. Nail a cleat 
of one-inch stuff just at the top, and inside of the high 
sides of the box. This cleat makes a convenient han- 




FIG 62: PLAIN NEST BOXES 

die, and at the same time strengthens the box. The 
nests should be placed beneath the droppings board with 
the high sides next to the entrance of the pen or hen- 
house. By tarring all the joints or painting them with 
a solution of carbolic acid, they are easily kept free 
from vermin. They will be found much better than a 
long box, as one can be removed at any time for set- 
ting a hen . in another part of the building. I never 
have any trouble from the hens flying off their nests 



NESTING CONTRIVANCES 



53 



upon my approach. The boxes should be bought for 
from eight to ten cents each." 

The cuts in Figure 63 show how a contrivance can 
be made for laying hens which will keep out hogs, 
dogs, or any animals liable to destroy the eggs. The 
framework is two by three scantling. Then ordinary 
boards are used for the sides and roof. The hens go in 
at the entrance and pass around either end of a, gain- 
ing access to the nests. A little door, b, at the end, 
shown in the right-hand cut, closed, by means of a hasp, 
permits entrance for the removal of the eggs. This 



i I H H 



Jc 



FIG 63 



■p) 




SECURE NEST BOX 



little nesting place can l)e moved to any convenient part 
of the yard and the eggs deposited there are secure. 
The hens will soon learn to go to it. The material re- 
quired is eight pieces of one by twelve inches eight feet 
long, two pieces of one by fourteen inches three feet 
long, two pieces of two by three inches three feet long, 
eight pieces of one by twelve inches twelve feet long, 
two pieces of one by three inches eight feet long, and 
one piece of one by ten inches six feet long, with two 
pounds of eightpenny nails. 

Open-work nests, as in Figure 64, at the left of 
the illustration, are easily kept clean and free from 



54 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



lice. They may be bought ready-made, or may be 
woven from old bale hay wire or from willow wands. 
A thorough singeing or scalding will renovate the nest 
at any time. The nest should have a wooden edge- 
piece for the hen to alight on, and a large card for 
dates of sitters is a convenience. 

A plan for transferring sitters is shown at the 
right of Figure 64. The nest boxes, b, d, are placed 
on a board platform, e, extending through the partition 
between a room for layers and another for the sitters. 






;;i\\\ " i 



FIG 64: THREE USEFUL NEST IDEAS 



When a hen is to be set, the box with hen and eggs 
is simply pushed through the partition. 

Prevents Dirty Nests — Fowls can be prevented 
from roosting on the edge of their nest boxes by plac- 
ing a two-inch roller at the front of the boxes, as 
shown in Figure 64, 1 1 1. The roller revolves easily 
upon a wooden pin at each end. The sides of the boxes 
are made slanting for the same reason. 

A New Nesting Arrangement — To make dark 
nests inside a henhouse is a matter involving not a 



NESTING CONTRIVANCES 



55 



little work. And even then the nests often prove 
a nuisance, since the fowls roost on them and soil 
them constantly. A handy contrivance for securing 
dark nests is shown in Figure 65. Where the fowl- 
house is inside another building, or has a hallway, this 
plan can be easily and conveniently used. Long boxes 
are used for the nests, each having a partition across 
the middle with a round opening through it large 
enough for a hen to pass through. Two other round 
openings for each nest are made. One in the outside 




FIG 65 : GOOD NESTING ARRANGEMENTS 



of the box, as shown, another in the partition of the 
henpen. Place the box against the outside of the parti- 
tion so that the two openings will come together, when 
the hen can enter and pass around into the dark nest. 
A hinged cover gives access to the eggs. 

Homemade Recording Nest Box — One of the best 
non-patented devices for keeping egg records is that 
used at the Maine experiment station and illustrated 
herewith ( Figure 66 ) . In the drawing are shown two 
of the completed nests from side to side, one of them 
closed after the entrance of a hen and the other re- 



56 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 



Opened for the entrance of another layer. After each 
hen has laid, the attendant removes her, and each hen 
has a band with a number attached to her leg and the 
eggs may be numbered to correspond. This process 
is gone through in the attempt to pick out the best 
layers to keep over for breeders and the experiment 
station hopes to establish a strain of wonderful layers. 




FIG 66: TRAP NEST BOXES 



For those who wish to make their own boxes, 
the following directions are supplied by Professor 
Gowell of the Maine station : 

It is a box-like structure, without front end or 
cover, twenty-eight inches long, thirteen inches wide 
and thirteen inches dee- inside measurements. A 



NESTING CONTRIVANCES 



57 



division board with a circular opening seven and one- 
half inches in diameter is placed across the box twelve 
inches from the back end and fifteen inches from the 
front end. The back section is the nest proper. In- 
stead of a close door at the entrance, a light frame is 
covered with wire netting. The door is ten and one- 
half inches wide and ten inches high and does not fill 
the entire entrance, a good margin being left all round 
to avoid friction. It is hinged at the top and opens 
up into the box. The hinges are placed on the front 
of the door. 




FIG 67 : ROOST PROTECTED BY XEST 



The trip consists of one piece of stiff wire about 
three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter and eighteen 
and one-half inches long, bent as shown. A piece of 
board six inches wide and just long enough to reach 
across the box inside is nailed flatwise in front of the 
partition and one inch below the top of the box, a space 
of one-fourth of an inch being left between the edge of 
the board and the partition. The purpose of this board 
is only to support the trip wire in place. The six-inch 
section of the trip wire is placed across the board and 
the long part of the wire slipped through the onc- 
fourth-inch slot and massed down close to and in front 



58 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



of the center of the seven and one-half-inch circular 
opening. Small wire staples are driven nearly down 
over the six-inch section of the trip wire into the board 
so as to hold it in place and yet let it roll sidewise easily. 




FIG 68 : NEST FROM A CANDY PAIL 



When the door is set, a section of the wire comes 
undc€- a hardwood peg- or tack in the lower edge of the 
door frame. The hen passes in through the circular 
opening, and in doing so presses the wire to one side, 
which lets the door down and fastens itself by a wooden 



NESTING CONTRIVANCES 



59 



latch or lever. The latch is five inches long, one inch 
wide and one-half inch thick, and is fastened loosely 
one inch from its center to the side of the box, so that 
the outer end is just inside of the door when it is 
closed. Pieces of old rubber belting are nailed at the 
outside entrance for the door to strike against. 

Roosting and Nesting Device — Figure 67 shows a 
very excellent roosting and nesting device that has 
done duty in the cold of a Maine winter. It is in use 
for a small pen of Leghorns — a breed that must be 




FIG 69 



NESTS FOR DUCKS 



kept warm at night, if eggs are to be had at this season 
of the year. The roost is put across the corner of the 
pen and a piece of burlap is stretched before it. A few 
crosspieces are laid across the corner at the curtain's 
upper edge, and on these is piled a lot of waste hay, 
making a very warm roosting place. The Leghorns 
delight to fly up on this hay and lay their eggs under 
the impression that they are stealing away their nests. 
Humoring a Leghorn in this way is conducive to lay- 
ing, and the eggs can easily be reached. As the whole 
thing can be put up in five minutes' time, there is no 
excuse for frosted combs on the Les-horns. 



60 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 

At Stores where candy is sold, one can buy for a 
few cents the Hght, but large, wooden pails in which 
broken candy and certain grades of chocolates are 
shipped from the factory. These pails make excellent 
hens' nests when hung from two hooks in the manner 
shown in Figure 68. The weak point of this nest and 
several others described is that no alighting board is 
provided and no shelter to keep fowls off the edge. 
These improvements, however, can be added. Such 
nests can be taken out of doors, emptied and cleaned in 
a moment, and having no corners or open joints, as do 
boxes, there is no place for vermin to hide about them. 
This is a special point in favor of the use of such pails 
as nests, for the ordinary nest is usually a breeding 
place for these troublesome pests. 

Nests for Ducks — Some duck raisers use a plain 
nest, as shown in Figure 69. These nests are made of 
one-inch boards, twelve inches high and sixteen inches 
long, set fourteen inches apart, and held together in 
front with a. three-inch strip. The nests are nailed to 
the back of the house. 



CHAPTER VII 

HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON 

No doubt but that a good operator can hatch per- 
fect chicks by incubator and keep up the vigor and 
excellence of his stock year after year without using a 
single sitting hen, but complete success requires care 
and experience. Very complete manuals on the sub- 
ject may be had free by writing to those who advertise 
the machines. Of late years many very practical incu- 
bators have been placed on the market, while the older 
makes have been greatly improved, especially in regard 
to heat regulation. The incubator catalogs contain 
plenty of testimonials, and by writing to some of tjie 
more prominent of these, the intending buyer may soon 
decide which machine is best suited to his taste and 
conditions. 

While there are still many points of difference 
between manufacturers as to hot air or hot water heat, 
moisture or no moisture, cooling and ventilation, yet 
most of the incubators now on the market will hatch 
eggs satisfactorily in the hands of a careful operator. 
By the use of common sense and following the instruc- 
tions laid down by the makers, even a beginner can 
expect good hatches from fertile eggs. With experi- 
ence, hatches of seventy-five to ninety per cent of fer- 
tile eggs are commonly obtained. 

Incubators vary in capacity from fifty to four hun- 
dred eggs. One size is as easy to run as another. For 
the practical farmer a machine of one hundred, one 
hundred and fifty or two hundred-egg capacity is the 



62 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 

best size. Three hatches in a season will, with average 
success, give as many chickens as ordinarily wanted. 

Something depends on the machine, but more on 
the operator, and most of all on the eggs. Any ma- 
chine that will keep even heat can be made to hatch 
successfully. If the temperature is kept at one hun- 
dred and two or one hundred and three degrees, if 
ventilation is reasonably good, if eggs are all of the 
same kind of shell so that the air will enlarge at the 
same rate, and if the air cell is watched and by ven- 
tilation or moistening, if necessary, made to cor- 
respond with the air-cell charts furnished with the 
machine, the eggs having also been turned as directed, 
then a poor hatch is almost surely the fault of the eggs. 

Early in the season eggs are less likely to be fer- 
tile. Very late in the season many are infertile, and 
the germs are feeble, causing many to die in the shell. 
Eggs with thick, dark shells are harder to hatch than 
others, and many germs die in the shell or turn out 
feeble chicks. Eggs should be of about the same age, 
should not be kept over two weeks before starting and 
must all be put into machine at same time. Extremely 
large eggs and long slender ones do not hatch well. 

Better operate the machine empty a few days at 
beginning of each season. Eill the lamp every morning 
and trim the wick by scraping off the top. Have a 
new wick for every hatch and use good oil. If acci- 
dents happen and temperature goes above one hundred 
and five, chicks will be somewhat injured. Even one 
hundred and ten for a few hours does not necessarily 
kill, but most of the chicks will be weakened. Eggs 
should be sprinkled and cooled at once after having 
been much overheated. 

In five days from the start, test the eggs, take out 
those that are not fertile, mark doubtful ones, putting 
them back to be inspected ten days later. Give no 



HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON 63 

moisture the first week, very little the second and a 
great deal the latter part of the last week. But follow 
the directions from the manufacturer as to moisture 
and depend more upon the size of the egg- air cell than 
upon any set rule. Turn the eggs at intervals of twelve 
hours and change the position of the drawers each time. 
Drawers that are nearest the lamp should he placed 
furthest away once in twenty-four hours, the front 
end of the drawer being turned to the back of the 
machine. When the eggs begin to pip do not disturb 
the hatch till it is well through, as taking out moist 
chickens from the machine lowers the temperature, 
lessens the degree of moisture and impairs the hatch 
of the remainder. 

A well-known Illinois poultryman, Fred Grundy, 
was asked to give some elementary incubator advice. 
He wrote as follows : 

''Practice with the machine until you can run it 
steadily day and night without any change in the tem- 
perature of the egg chamber. You should be able to 
do this in a week. Then put in the eggs. This will 
lower the temperature of the egg chamber very much 
unless the eggs are first warmed. I prefer warming 
nicely before putting in. Very early in the morning is 
the best time for starting, for the thermometer can be 
looked at at least once each hour until ten o'clock the 
following night. If it remains steady everything is 
right. At the end of ten days you may test out the 
infertile eggs, and put in one pan of lukewarm water 
for moisture. Repeated experiments have thoroughly 
satisfied me that each hatching should be placed in the 
machine at one time, and no eggs added thereafter 
even if two-thirds are tested out as infertile. 

''At the end of two weeks the heat of the hatching 
eggs will be such that you must watch closely lest the 
temperature rise too high. Be sure that it never goes 



64 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



above one hundred and three degrees. If there must 
be a variation, ninety-five degrees is far better than one 
hundred and five. If the air in the room is constantly 
warm and dry, place a second pan of lukewarm water 
in the machine at the end of the second week. If the 
room is in a cellar and moisture shows on the windows, 
one pan of water under the eggs is quite sufficient. 

"When the eggs begin to hatch don't open the door 
for love or money. Have the thermometer fastened so 
the chicks cannot knock it over and see that the tem- 
perature does not rise above one hundred and three. 
Don't remove the chicks from the chamber until they 




FIG 70: PLAN FOR HOMEMADE INCUBATOR 



have been hatched at least twenty hours ; then quickly 
place them in a brooder heated to one hundred. When 
you buy an incubator see that the egg tray fits the 
chamber, so that newly hatched chicks cannot possibly 
fall over its edges into the moisture pans below." 

How to Make an Incubator — Scores of machines 
have been made according to the following description, 
and good success in hatching has resulted. This incu- 
bator requires closer or more frequent attention than 
do machines with a more elaborate system of heat 
regulation, but with care and experience first-rate 
hatches may be obtained. 



HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON 



65 



Figure 70 gives a general idea of what is to be 
made. A side sectional view showing the internal ar- 
rangement and construction is shown in Figure 71. 
The tgg drawer is at e, the heater box at h, the sawdust 



^ 



^ 



L 



> 



^ 



/ 



FIG 71 : SECTION PLAN OF INCUBATOR 

filling to retain heat at ^ ^ ^ and the ventilator box is at 
b, filled with sawdust up to the dotted line. 

Use well-seasoned matched pine boards one inch 
in thickness for all parts except the sides and ends of 
the tgg drawer, which should be a quarter of an inch 
heavier. 




FIG 72 : INCUBATOR DRAWER AND HEATER 

The heater is made first and is shown at a in Fig- 
ure 72. It is three feet by four feet and six inches 
high. It takes two boards six inches wide and four 
feet long for the sides ; and two boards six inches wide 
and two feet ten inches long for the front and back ; 
the top, being made of matched boards nailed on very 



66 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



tightly, has eight holes bored in it. The center holes 
are for a three-eighths-inch bolt seven inches long, with 
a large flat head on one end and a thumbscrew on the 
other. The other holes are for six escape pipes, which 
are fifteen inches long and three-fourths of an inch in 
diameter. Bore three holes on each side three inches 
from the outside edges of the sides ; the first three 
inches from the corner, the second fifteen inches from 
the corner, the third twenty-seven inches from the cor- 
ner, as shown in Figure 'J2, a. 



^ 



vj O O 



iZ 



FIG 73 : VENTILATOR BOX FOR INCUBATOR 



Now cut two holes, eight inches from opposite 
corners (one is shown in the drawing), in the center 
of the sides and four inches in diameter ; and over both 
the inside and outside tack stout pieces of tin contain- 
ing round holes two and one-half inches in diameter. 
These holes are for the lamp pipes, and the tin protects 
the wood from fire. Directly under each of these holes 
inside, nail a piece of tin a foot square, putting it half 
an inch from the bottom, bending down the two cor- 
ners not nailed half an inch. When the zinc is nailed 



HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON 67 

on, this will make two thicknesses, with half an inch 
air space, and will prevent overheating below the lamp 
pipes. Use stout zinc for covering the bottom, with a 
hole for the bolt in the center of it. Nail it on with 
double rows of lath nails, about an inch apart, and it 
will be air tight. Put the bolt in and tighten up the 
thumbscrew. 

The drawer, Figure ^2, h, is five inches deep in 
front, four feet nine inches long, and two feet eleven 
and one-half wide. After saving a space in front eight 
inches wide for sawdust, take a piece of heavy, coarse 
muslin or tow and stretch tightly over the bottom and 
fasten with tacks. Nail a board nine inches wide under 
the front space for sawdust, but cover the other parts 
with slats one inch square, nailing them on crosswise 
through the t6w, and place them about an inch apart. 

A very convenient and complete ^%% turner may 
be made by making a frame with beveled cross-slats. 
This should be three inches shorter than the inside 
measurement of the drawer, and just wide enough to 
slide nicely. The sides of the frame should be seven- 
eighths by three-eighths of an inch ; the ends, seven- 
eighths square. The slats are seven-eighths of an inch 
high and one-half an inch across the bottom, and are 
one and seven-eighths inches apart at the top. It is 
well to put the slats two inches apart for extra large 
eggs or duck or turkey eggs. By moving or sliding 
this frame back and forth, the eggs turn very nicely. 

The ventilator box, with the bottom of the incu- 
bator, is represented standing upright in Figure 73. 
The box proper is three by four feet, the same as the 
heater, but eight inches high. By noticing the draw- 
ing, it will be perceived that the bottom of the incu- 
bator is eight inches larger every way than the 
ventilator box, and that the same matched boards 
answer for both. The twelve half-inch holes are for 



68 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 

twelve tin pipes to furnish ventilation from below. 
1 liese pipes are eight inches long. The sides of the 
ventilator box extend out even with the bottom of 
the incubator for the drawer to slide on. 

Having made this, place the drawer on it, and 
the heater on the drawer, and fasten the heater and 
ventilator together with boards nailed on the sides 
and back. The boards should be one foot wide, and 
be nailed so as to allow the drawer to work nicely 
between the heater and ventilator. These boards on 
the sides must project the same at the front as do the 
sides of the ventilator. Next fit an eight-inch board 
over the front of the drawer, keeping it level with the 
zinc. This keeps the sawdust from falling into 
the drawer. 

Now with the bottom as a guide, build the outer 
box for sawdust, making it nine inches higher than 
the top of the heater, and taking care to fit the front 
boards around the end of the drawer nicely. To 
allow the lamp pipes to enter, cut holes in the outer 
box the same as was done in the heater, but using tins 
on the outside only. Where the lamp pipes pass 
through the sawdust, a box for sand must be made 
of sufficient size to properly protect the sawdust. The 
tinsmith must make the lamp and escape pipes as 
stovepipe is made, but the ventilator pipes may be 
soldered, as they are in no danger of melting. The 
escape pipes must be cut ofT so as to come to a point, 
so that when they are pushed down and touch the 
zinc, only a small draft is allowed, and the draft cannot 
become closed. 

The lamp pipes should be two and one-half inches 
in diameter, with elbow^s in them allowing the pipes 
to extend into the heater three inches at one end, and 
at the other end to fit a tin lamp chimney with an 
isinglass window in it one inch in diameter. This 



HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON 69 

isinglass window is to see the flame of the lamp and 
should be cut where the flame can be readily seen. A 
large fount lamp with a Number 2 burner is placed 
on a slide that can be pushed under the incubator (as 
shown in Figure 70), when removed for trimming. 

Tlie legs hold up the drawer when drawn out, 
and the handle is merely a crosspiece fastened to 
them. The legs extend three inches below the bottom 
of the incubator, and they just clear the floor when 
the incubator is placed on two pieces of scantling to 
allow air to pass up through the pipes in the ven- 
tilator box. 

After setting the incubator in the place where it 
is to be used, put sand into the boxes around the lamp 
pipes, and put sawdust in the ventilator box up to 
within one inch of the top of the pipes; also in front 
of the drawer and all around the sides, and on top of 
the heater up to within an inch of the top of the escape 
pipes, being careful not to allow any sawdust to get in 
the pipes. Cover the sawdust with paper, allowing 
the pipes to be open. 

You are now ready to light the lamps. Use head- 
light oil (one hundred and fifty degrees test), keep the 
lamps at a medium hight, and in a few days you will 
have the incubator thoroughly heated. By observing 
the two good thermometers in the front and back ends 
of the drawer, you can easily keep the temperature at 
one hundred and three degrees by turning the lamp 
screws up or down. When you have the machine 
under proper control, put the eggs in, and in about 
twelve hours they will be warm enough without turn- 
ing up the lamps, and they will remain so unless the 
lamps are changed when filled and trimmed.- 

By trimming every other day, and filling daily, 
the temperature can easily be kept uniform by looking 
at the thermometers every six hours and turning the 



70 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT ^ 

lamps up or down. From one hundred and two 
degrees to one hundred and five degrees is the proper 
temperature. Good, reUable thermometers must be 
used and the bulbs should rest on eggs with the tops 
slightly elevated. 

Egg Tester — Figure 74 represents a contrivance 
for testing the freshness or fertility of eggs, useful in 




FIG 74 : EGG TESTER 

the household or to the poultry fancier. It consists 
of a small handle, with a cup in the end of it; around 
the cup is fastened a frame of sheet tin or stiff card- 
board.> This frame has a hole in the center, of the 
shape and size of an tgg, and a strip of black ribbon 
or cloth is fastened around the frame, projecting a 
little beyond the inner edge. To test the egg, it is 
placed in the cup, so as to fill the space in the center 



HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON 7I 

of the frame, the edge of the black cloth or ribbon 
fitting close to the shell. When the egg is held close 
to a bright light, the light passes through the egg, and 
shows a fresh or infertile one to be perfectly clear, 
while a fertile one that has been sat upon, or that has 
been in the incubator two days, will show the embryo, 
as in the engraving, as a dark cloudy spot. 

Handling Eggs — They should be picked up twice 
a day in summer at least, and it is better to keep up 
the practice all the year round. They should be care- 
fully assorted, putting in one class only large, clean- 



FIG 75 : EGG CABINET 

shelled eggs. Into the other basket should go all the 
very small ones, all the thin-shelled ones, all the poor- 
shaped ones, all with discolored shells. Some of the 
dirty ones may very likely be carefully washed and put 
with those of the best grade. For a grade of eggs 
selected like these and always to be depended upon, 
there should be no difficulty in finding a regular mar- 
ket at several cents per dozen above the average price. 
The few culls that remain can be sold to boarding 
houses or bakeshops, if offered in a strictly fresh state. 



72 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



Eggs for hatching may be kept three or four 
weeks if properly stored. Figure 75 shows a cabinet 
for the purpose. The drawers are fitted with the 
pasteboard fillers from old egg cases, which may be 
bought for a few cents at the grocery stores. Turning 
the eggs is not essential if they are to be set within 




FIG 76 



EGG CASE 



two weeks. For turning, a lath cover must be made 
for each drawer so that drawer and eggs may be 
turned in one movement and replaced with the cover 
beneath. At next turning the whole is reversed. The 
drawers must be so planned to allow for cover if 
turning the eggs by rapid process is to be practiced. 




FIG 77 : EGG CARRIER 



Another plan for keeping choice eggs is shown in 
Figure 76. The eggs if kept long should be turned at 
least every other day, to keep them in good condition, 
and this is lots of work if done tgg by tgg. Make 
a box just shoal enough to hold one section of paste- 
board fillers. Lay some soft papers beneath the fillers 



HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON 



73 



and tack others (or a sheet of corrugated paper) to 
the under sicje of the Hd. The whole box can then be 
gently turned over with one motion, and in a day or 
two turned back again. Shoal pasteboard boxes that 
would answer the purpose can often be obtained at 
dry goods stores. 

Carrying and Shipping — Before shipping eggs for 
hatching, the first thing to decide upon is a method 




li-LLLLLi= 


Tmxijr 



FIG 78 : EGG SHIPPING CASE 



of packing, so that they are likely to reach their des- 
tination in safety. There have been many forms of 
packages devised for transporting eggs, but the old- 
fashioned basket method is about the best of all. The 
small, flat-bottomed fruit basket can be purchased 
cheaply, and being light and conveniently handled is 
not so likely to be knocked around as a box would be; 



rough handling is apt to 



the 



or prove 



74 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT ^ 

detrimental to its keeping. The bottom of the basket 
should be lined with dry, soft hay, and each egg 
wrapped separately in paper and placed in the basket 
with the large end downward, so that they will not 
quite touch ; fdl in chaff or dry sawdust between each 
egg, then cover with another layer of hay; over all lay 
smoothly a stout piece of muslin the size of the top 
of the basket and sew on vv^ith strong twine, drawing 
firmly to prevent eggs moving about. Packed in this 
manner eggs may be sent long distances without being 
shaken sufficiently to injure their fertility. 

When a basket of eggs is to be carried over a 
rough road, either the horse must be made to walk all 
the way, or broken eggs be carried back. Saw off the 
bottom of an empty grocery box and mount it above 
its cover by four small springs from the upholsterer's, 
or from a worn-out chair or couch. Set the basket 
of eggs in this (Figure yy) and it will ride safely over 
rough roads with the horse at a trot. 

For shipping in large numbers, a cheap case is 
shown in Figure 78. Nail handles on a small shoe 
box. Cut pasteboard to fit together, as shown in the 
illustration. Fasten the slits well together by pressing 
the top piece crosswise into the bottom piece. Illus- 
tration shows the construction of the pasteboard slips 
and appearance when complete. 



CHAPTER VIII 

FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 

Some style of mother is necessary to take care of 
the early hatched chicks, so the brooder and incu- 
bator go hand in hand. Both the pipe system, 
using hot water for heat, and a drum heated by a 
lamp from below, are used; each has its advocates and 
gives good results. Aside from the matter of cost 
there is little to choose between them. Up to within 
a few years, incubators and brooders were used only 
by fanciers and commercial poultry keepers, but of 
late they are being very generally adopted by farmers 
who raise from one hundred to five hundred chickens 
a year. 

Warm the brooder pipes a day or two before the 
hatch is due. Take care not to bare the chickens in 
transferring them from incubator to brooder. Use 
large fiat baskets for the purpose. Put a newspaper 
in the basket first, then a thick woolen shawl or old 
blanket under and over them. Take them rapidly 
from the basket, put them under the pipes and shut 
them in tightly for a time. Do not feed the chickens 
for twenty-four hours after hatching. Good food 
for the first week is cracker, ground in a bone 
mill quite coarse and mixed with as much milk 
as it will absorb, heated quite hot. It is not a 
bad plan to heat all the food for the first two 
weeks. After the first day or two teach them 
to drink milk. Grind broken crockery quite fine and 
put a little pile beside their food for grit. Use a 
smooth, clean board on which to spread their food and 



76 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 

clean the board after each meal. Get them out of 
doors the first week if possible during the midday sun. 
Give bits of onion or cabbage to keep them busy while 
out of doors. When they stop running or lose in- 
terest, take them in again. 

After the first week give three feeds daily of shorts 
and corn meal scraped to a crumbly mass. In one 
feed put one-sixth beef scraps, in the other two feeds 
put onions or cabbage chopped fine and spread over 
the plates of dough. For other feeds during the day 
make a mound of sand, putting in with it meal to be 
scratched for and eaten as soon as light. Wheat, corn 
and barley, all cracked, are good for a feed at noon and 
the last feed at night. It is a good plan to store sods 
of grass for the first two hatches, as the earth is quite 
bare when they come out. Sow the yards and runs to 
rye for late hatches. The brooder must be cleaned 
out under the pipes every day, putting in clean sand. 
Clean out the entire pen when the brood is changed 
into another pen. 

Very clear and practical directions are sent by 
L. Richards, who has used incubator and brooders 
w^ith great success on his Massachusetts farm: 

"The chicks are left in the incubator two days after 
they are hatched, then they are removed to the 
brooder, which is heated by a kerosene lamp in the 
rear, outside. The brooder is warmed by top heat, 
through tin pipes running on either side within, one 
in the middle and another across the front, all con- 
nected, of course, with two outlets in the rear portion. 
I have six brooders, each large enough for seventy- 
five chicks. The first week I keep the temperature 
between eighty degrees and ninety degrees. When 
two weeks old seventy-five degrees will answer, and at 
four or five weeks, seventy degrees. In the bottom of 
the brooder there is a platform slide resting on the 
lower one and covering it, on which the chicks rest. 



FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 7/ 

After a few days I pull out the slides and remove the 
droppings, then re-cover with hayseed and replace 
them. They should afterward be cleaned every day. 
Have a coarse sand floor or ground for them to run on 
and pick to grind their food. The first week, if cold, I 
use outside of the brooder a small seventy-five degree 
oil stove or heater to warm the house for them, espe- 
cially while they are out feeding. 

"For the first two weeks they require a great deal 
of warmth, and I am convinced that the cause of death 
among so many small chicks is due to lack of warmth. 
I speak from experience. The same is true with 
chicks brooded by the hen. We have often found an 
apparently dead chicken, chilled outside, and brought 
it to life by warming it ; in nine cases out of ten it will 
revive and thrive. When the small chicks are out 
feeding in the brooder house during the first week, 
watch them more or less and see that none get chilled. 
After the first week they will generally go in and under 
the brooder at their own option, and when the sun is 
out and shining through the glass they will crowd 
together in the sunshine, and during a very cold day 
they will get chilled even in the sun's rays (unless the 
house is very warm) rather than go under the brooder 
where it is warmer. They like the sun. During the 
first week I have a fine wire shutter with which to 
close them in the brooder when they have been out 
long enough, and always at night for a week, and 
perhaps two, if cold. If not so restrained, they would 
get out too early in the morning, become chilled and 
die. After the first week or two I do not use it; let 
them go out and in at will. One other point should 
be mentioned and that is, I should advise one not to 
touch an incubator until he has raised chicks success- 
fully by the hen. It is one thing to hatch chicks and 
quite another to raise them successfully. 



/O POL'LTRV APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 

*'In regard to feed for chicks, which, of course, 
applies to chicks with the hen as well as those in the 
brooder, we give them the first day or two, when they 
are old enough to eat, cooked eggs chopped fine. Get 
the hen well filled with corn or some soft feed before 
feeding the egg to the chicks, otherwise the hungry 
hen will gobble it up. After this give them some 
baked Indian meal and flour bread mixed, chopped 
fine, and milk to drink. 

*'After the first week give them ground oats, 
cracked oats, cracked wheat and sifted cracked corn, 
boiled broken rice and white flour bread or graham 
bread. Milk if vou have it, if not, water for the 




FIG 79 : DIAGRAM OF BROODER WITH DRUM 



brooder chicks. Give them meat scrap which con- 
tains ground bone, and also cut fresh bone. You can 
perhaps keep a small chick alive on cracked corn 
alone, the same as half the farmers do, but that is not 
what the man or woman wants who is raising chicks 
for profit and w^ho desires to get three pound per pair 
chicks in ten, or, at the farthest, twelve weeks, and to 
do this you must work them for all they are worth. 
But do not feed on cracked corn alone. I assure you 
they get tired of it, the same as we would upon a, diet 
of bread alone. Let them have free access to coarse 
sand or any kind of grit. Don't leave any holes open 
at night in your houses for rats to crawl through." 



FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 



79 



An Improved Brooder — Figure 79 shows the lamp 
below a sheet of iron that securely shuts off the lamp 
chamber from the space above. (See also Figure 80.) 
Bed the sheet iron in white lead to make it air tight. 
Above the sheet iron is a floor of matched stuff, and in 
the center is a five-inch drum opening into the space 
between the floor and the sheet iron. Around the top 
of the drum are openings that let the hot air out into 
the brooder. 

The top of the drum extends out for ten inches 
all around the drum and from the outer edge a flannel 





FIG 80: IMPROVED BROODER 



curtain is hung, inclosing a circular space with the 
drum in the center. The curtain is "slashed" up every 
three inches. Within this curtain will be the warmest 
place in the brooder. It w^ll always be warm in there. 
If it becomes too w^arm the chicks will go outside the 
curtain. The addition of this inclosed hover renders 
it practically impossible for the chickens to be chilled 
or overheated, and makes a very excellent brooder into 
one that cannot well be improved. 

The dotted line (Figure 79) shows where the 
cover can be placed for an inside brooder. If it is to 
be used out of doors it must have a sloping cover. 



8o 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRxVFT 



Put two lights of glass either in the cover or on oppo- 
site sides. 

Brooder for Fifty Chicks — The brooder used by 
Mr A. F. Stewart of Monmouth county, New Jersey, 
is shown in the diagram (Figure 8i), being two and 
one-half by two and one-half by two feet, having can- 
ton flannel flaps around the heating drum, in which the 
voung chicks can cuddle. The holes, a a, are for venti- 




FIG 8 1 : BROODER FOR FIFTY CHICKS 



lation. About fifty chicks are confined in each pen or 
brooder. The feed of the young chicks for the first 
week or two is mainly stale wheat bread (wheat being 
preferred to rye), which can be bought cheap from 
the baker. This is broken up fine and wet with milk 
or water, milk if possible. After a few weeks the chicks 
are kept in small houses. 

A Handy Little Brooder — Take a box three feet 
square and eighteen inches deep; remove top and bot- 



FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 8l 

torn. On this box (Figure 82) nail a square of zinc, 
tin or sheet iron, which will exactly cover it, as at a a. 
Nail on top of this zinc cover, around the outside 
edges, strips of board one inch square, cutting a space, 
b h, three-fourths of an inch wide, in center of each 
side. On these strips nail board cover or floor, c c. 
Bore in center of this cover a two-inch hole, d, insert- 
ing a two-inch zinc tube three inches long. For hover, 
e, take a board eighteen or twenty-four inches square, 
nail four legs four inches long to the four corners. 
Tack three-inch fringe or strip of felt or flannel around 
edges, slashing the same every three or four inches. 




FIG 82: SMALL LAMP BROODER 

A fence will be required around the top to keep 
chicks from falling ofif, also a cleated run for them to 
go up and down. Place a common lamp underneath 
this box to warm air in space, which is drawn in 
through spaces b b and passes up through tube and 
radiates out over chicks, keeping them constantly sup- 
plied with fresh air. Bore hole in hover and insert 
thermometer, h. Keep the temperature at one hundred 
the first few days, the second week lower to ninety, 
third week eighty or less is sufficient; do not keep 
them too warm. 



82 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 

Cheap Brooder — As a substitute for expensive 
brooders, the device illustrated in Figure 83 will make 
a good home for early hatched chicks. It is two and 
one-half feet square and about the same hight in 
front, while behind it is enough shorter to give the 
shed roof a nice pitch. Nearly the entire front is glass, 
beneath which is a place for chicks to pass in and out. 
This can be closed when desired by a slide door as 
shown in the illustration. 




FIG 83 : HOMEMADE BROODER 

A curtain is let down over the sash during the 
night and rolled up out of the way in the daytime. 
It is warmed by a common barn lantern, which is held 
in position by a square box, which extends through 
the roof, and also serves as a ventilator. The cap of 
the ventilator is adjustable, permitting the lantern to 
be taken out and put in at pleasure. The ventilator is 
perforated at the base to permit the heat to radiate 
through the room, and also near the top to allow the 
gases from the burning oil to escape. The entire bot- 
tom is arranged to slide in and out as a drawer, so it 



FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 



83 



may be taken out and cleaned, which should be done 
every day. It costs but a dollar or so, according to 
material used. 

The "Sure" Brooder — A small poultryman often 
wants a cheap and suitable brooder that he can make 
himself with little or no expense, as he cannot afford 
five to twenty-five dollars for a brooder. The one out- 




FIG 84: THE SURE BROODER 



lined in Figure 84 can be made in an hour or two by 
any person at all expert with tools. A box three feet 
long by two and one-half feet broad and eighteen 
inches deep should be made of matched pine lumber. 
A tight floor of tin or sheet iron should be put in just 
below the letter a in the cut. This should support 
from one-half to one inch of sand, which will need re- 



84 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT- 

newing every week. The metal floor should project 
outside the box as shown by c and be nailed down 
firmly. This will prevent any odor from the lamp 
entering the chicken room, a. At c/ is the front of the 
brooder and it is made of a strip of heavy flannel or 
felt and hangs to the floor from the ceiling of the en- 
trance to the little chamber. There should be small 
slits made in the flannel but not extending too far up, 
though every third or fourth cut may be longer than 
the others. This keeps out the cold and makes the 
room dark. 

The platform c outside the brooder is two and one- 
half by three feet, which will be ample room until the 
chickens are a week old. It is hinged to the brooder 
and the board / is hinged to the platform so as to keep 
it level while the chickens are using it. • When a larger 
room is required, / can be folded under e, and e be- 
comes an incline to a larger pen. b is the lower part of 
the brooder in which a small hand lamp is placed to 
heat it and several inch auger holes should be bored in 
the sides of b to supply fresh air and enable the lamp 
to burn, g indicates the iron floor whose edges project 
and are nailed down, h is a smaller piece of metal at- 
tached to it underneath, and about half the size of the 
floor. It must not strike the floor at any point, but 
preserve an air space one-half inch between it and the 
floor, so as to take the first heat from the lamp and dis- 
perse it evenly over the floor that supports the sand on 
which the chickens stand. If this be omitted the lamp 
will make the sand floor hot in one spot and not w^arm 
enough in another. Too much heat is worse than cold 
for young chickens. 

A window brooder is described as follows by F. J. 
Sheldon, Hartford county, Connecticut : "A box with 
a side or top wide enough to occupy a window, say 
three feet square and one and one-half feet deep, is 



FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 85 

obtained. This is so arranged that a heater is made 
with a lamp and the chicks allowed a space on top. 
For the top of the box, or floor on which the chicks are 
kept, matched boards are best. A radiating space for 
hot air is made by tacking two-inch cleats inside of the 
box to the floor. To these should be fastened a sheet 
of galvanized iron which fits inside of the box quite 
snugly. This gives a heating chamber two inches high 
and three feet square. This chamber may be warmed 
by a common hand lamp, set on a shelf in the box 
directly under the center, about three inches being 
allowed between the lamp chimney and the iron. To 
allow a good circulation in the radiating chamber bore 
half-inch holes into it on all sides of the box; also 
bore one, with a one and one-half-inch auger, through 
the center of the floor. ]\Iake a door in the side of the 
box most convenient to put the lamp into. A chimney 
to afford an outlet for the hot air is necessary. This 
may be made of hard wood with a hole in it the same 
size as the hole in the floor and cut down to about two 
inches in length and as near round on the outside as 
your time may permit. This may be glued down with 
bits of tin in position over the hole. 

'The cover over the chicks is generally made about 
six inches smaller all around than the floor, and is so 
framed that it will not warp if heated. Bore four 
holes, one in each corner, and get an old broom handle 
to fit into these holes. Cut the handles into four-inch 
lengths. These make the legs and may be raised or 
lowered according to the size of the chickens. When 
first out, the cover must be only one-half inch above 
the top of the chimney and stands with a piece of 
woolen cloth tacked on the sides. A wire fence about 
one and one-fourth feet high may be tacked around 
the top of the box. This will keep the birds in place 
and also protect them from rats, etc, if they are around. 



86 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT* 

Some may hesitate about putting fifty chicks in a 
brooder, but here are the first steps. The brooder is 
built and the lamp lit. Now fit a piece of newspaper 
carefully on the floor or top of brooder, and around 
the chimney. This done, cover the paper with dry 
sand that is formed of grit or fine stones about one- 
fourth inch thick. Place a thermometer on the sand 
near the chimney and place the cover on." 

Large Hot Water Brooder — Figure 85 shows a 
box six inches deep, three feet wide and fifty feet long. 
Two-inch iron pipes are arranged as shown in the illus- 




FIG 85 : HEATER, WATER BARREL AND PIPING 

tration, the top of the box being removed to show the 
interior. The hot water may be supplied by an ordi- 
nary stove 'Svater back," or by a coil of pipe in a 
stove. This is heated by a piece of pipe one inch in 
diameter, coiled in a stove, holes being cut in the stove 
for the purpose of admitting pipes. The hot water 
flows out and the cold water flows in. The floor of the 
box is made close, with tongued and grooved boards. 
The cold air enters through tubes reaching to the out- 
side of the building. It is heated by coming in con- 
tact with the pipes, and enters into the tubes on the 
top of the floor, which are two and a half inches high. 



FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 



87 



Another Homemade Brooder — This brooder has a 
heater four feet long, one foot wide and six inches high. 
The top is covered with zinc nailed on tightly. There is 
no bottom except over one-third of the back end. The 
front has a sliding door with a window to look at the 
lamp. The inside of the sides is lined with tin, and 
the chimney hole is one inch from the bottom in the 
middle of the back, and is for a tin pipe one and three- 
eighths inches in diameter. The heater is shown in 




FIG 86: DIAGRAM OF BROODER 



Figure 86, giving a bottom view without the sliding 
door in front, and with boards one foot wide nailed on 
the top through the zinc. 

Figure 87 gives a top view of the same after strips 
two inches wide have been fitted in at each end of the 
zinc to make a level surface all around the edge. Next 
nail strips, also two inches wide, all around the edge, 
except at the corner opening one and one-half 



88 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT , 

inches wide to admit fresh air ; /? is a strip ten inches 
long nailed on to conduct the fresh air to the zinc. 

Now if this is covered with matched boards there 
will be a chamber two inches deep over the zinc and 
one inch elsewhere. Bore a hole in the center for a 
pipe three inches long and one and one-eighth inches 
in diameter. Around this pipe and on this floor the 
chicks keep warm and sleep under a cover, also made 
of matched boards, two inches smaller every way than 



I 



FIG 87: SECTION VIEW OF BROODER 

the floor. This cover has four round legs which go 
through holes and raise and lower by means of nails, 
used as pegs in stay pieces which hold the matched 
boards together. Around the edge of the cover tack 
carpet or blanket cut in slits every four inches so that 
the chicks may run in and out. The blanket should be 
four inches wide and the cover kept two and one-half 
inches from the floor when the chicks are first put in 
the brooder. When the brooder is in operation, warm 



FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 89 

air is thus constantly flowing over their backs and ven- 
tilation is perfect. A tin chimney twenty inches long 
will carry off the fumes from the lamp. 

Put the brooder under a warm, sunny shed, and 
set it on the ground, or bank up nearly level with the 
floor and make a pit for the lamp with an open cover. 
Be careful not to cover the hole where the fresh air 
enters the brooder. Place the lamp as far under as 
you can reach, using straight tin chimneys with isin- 
glass windows in them. The same kind of lamps and 
oil should be used as for an incubator. The lamp need 
not be turned up high, nor must the chimney be nearer 
the zinc than two inches ; eighty degrees is warm 




FIG 88: BROODER FOR MILD CLIMATE 

enough for them. No thermometer need be used in the 
brooder. Keep dry sand on the floor and clean off the 
droppings every morning. Let their run be small at 
first and do not let them out when young in damp or 
stormy weather. 

Warm Weather Brooder — A brooder which will 
answer very well for late-hatched chicks or for loca- 
tions where the climate is mild, is that devised by a 
successful California poultryman, who writes: 

'T have constructed a brooder (Figure 88), six feet 
across the front, four feet in depth and six feet in hight. 
The walls are of common rough lumber and battened; 
the roof is made of shakes and has a sharp pitch each 



90 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



way, the gables closed with grain sacks for better ven- 
tilation. There are set in the front three sash doors 
twenty-four by thirty inches each, and made to swing 
outward for convenience in getting to the chicks. 

"About one-half of the interior is floored and 
sanded. Six inches below the sash doors a solid door 
is hung to admit of lighting the lamp, etc. There are 
three compartments, separated one from the other by 
means of wire cloth or netting, about eighteen inches 
high from front to rear, and situated in front of the 
mother, with hight sufficient to permit the ready egress 
and ingress of the chicks. Such a house as described 




FIG 89 : OUTDOOR BROODER AND RUN 



can be built at a cost not exceeding six dollars and 
fifty cents. The material employed consists of one 
hundred and fifty feet of lumber, four pairs of strap 
hinges, three sashes, fifty shakes, and two pounds of 
nails. As soon as the chicks are dry I place them in 
this brooder, in the sun if it is shining brightly, if not, 
then they are placed with the mother, taking care to 
provide a shady retreat which the chicks will seek if it 
should become too warm." 

A very convenient size is one that will accom- 
modate fifty chickens until three months old, two 
feet wide and four feet long; the sides are twelve 



FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 9I 

inches high under the glass, sloping to three inches at 
the back ; the cover of the back or inclined part should 
be movable, and lined with sheepskin or with pieces of 
flannel cut into strips three inches wide, and tacked to 
the under surface of the lid so as to hang down length- 
wise with the lid; from the highest part of the lid 
should hang a curtain made of flannel all across the 
box, and to within half an inch of the floor ; this keeps 
the cold air out of their roosting place. The front half 
of the brooder is covered with four panes of glass ; this 
admits the sun. The black dots in each peak are in- 
tended to represent one-inch holes for ventilation. 

An ordinary stone gallon jug (placed beneath the 
lid) filled with hot water four or five times a day, will 
furnish all the heat needed. 

Figure 89 represents another artificial mother for 
outdoor use in mild weather, and a wire run for the 
chicks. It is very simple in its construction ; it is made 
on the same principle as the mother previously de- 
scribed, excepting the bottom is separate from the body 
of the coop, which can be removed to clean. It is very 
important that it should be kept free from the drop- 
pings of the chicks, for if they are allowed to accumu- 
late they will breed lice. If the weather should be too 
cold for the comfort of the chicks then a jug of hot 
water should be placed within the box; this will not 
be necessary unless very cold, as a large number of 
chicks huddled together will generate a considerable 
amount of heat. 



CHAPTER IX 

TRAPS FOR POULTRY PESTS 

Rats are no doubt the prime nuisance in most 
poultry raising sections. They steal grain and eggs, 
disturb sitting hens and kill young chickens by whole- 
sale. By reason of their numbers and boldness they 
usually give more trouble than the wild pests of the 
swamp and forest. To fight them with cats is to invite 
a remedy which may prove nearly as bad as the dis- 
ease. A trained rat dog is the best policeman for pests 
of this kind, and he may be taught to drive off strange 
cats. He will in fact fight or at least give warning of 
any dangerous intruders except hawks. Rats often 
nest and burrow directly under chicken houses and 
coops. When the owner suspects anything of the 
kind let him call his dog and pry up the coop or tip it 
over, and Snip will do the rest. 

A simple, but where rats are numerous, very effec- 
tive trap is made by taking a large shallow box with 
the lid shut down and but one small hole in the side 
near the bottom. For this hole have a sliding lid which 
will stay open and can be shut suddenly. Place the 
box on the barn or stable floor, put some grain or other 
bait in it, and leave it for several days. Put everything 
else that is eatable as much out of the reach of rats as 
practicable. Renew the grain in the box if it is taken. 
Then when the rats have got used to the box and re- 
sort to it regularly for their feed, come up to it softly, 
shut down the sliding lid, take the box off into some 
open space, where the rats will have fair play, call 
the dogs and let the rats get away — if they can. Then 



TRAPS FOR POULTRY PESTS 



93 



take back the box and proceed as before, using another 
bait or putting the box in another place as soon as you 
fail of success. 

An old-style box trap with a modern improvement 
or two is a sure and secure rat catcher. Get a com- 
mon box, remove the top and one side and put them 
together as at e (Figure 90), and fasten with a hinge 
as at a. Fasten a spool, c, in the end of a board, h, and 
nail it to the back of the box. Then bore a one-inch 
hole about six inches from bottom of box, and at h cut 



\ 




" ' 




^ 




^ 




^0^"""^^ 


^ 




■a^ 


t'^ 




) 


I 


f 








JZl. 


^ 


/ 










■%/ 





FIG 90: IMPROVED RAT TRAP 



a notch in the outside of the end board. Sharpen stick, 
g, at each end. The stick, / i, should be twelve inches 
long, notched at k, so as to balance in the hole. The 
end / should be pointed, and the end i notched and 
pointed. Fasten a string at m, bring over the spool at 
e and down to g, and tie at middle of stick g. 
Have the string short enough so that when set the door 
will be wide open, about eight inches. Place bait of 
any kind on /. When a rabbit or other pest sniffles it 
he will dislodge stick, g, by moving it at f, and the 



94 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



cover will drop. Sometimes a weight can be used on 
the cover to advantage. 

Cat Trap — A slight modification of the common 
box trap, as in Figure 91, makes it the best kind of a 
cat trap. A robber cat in a trap is a desperate tartar 
to handle and if drowned while inside, no other cat 
will soon enter. To organize a quiet funeral, have a 
slide, a, just large enough for the prisoner to poke her 
head through. Then push down the slide and finish 
her catship with a mallet stroke. 




FIG 91 : CAT TRAP 



Trapping and Killing Skunks — These are a nui- 
sance about a farmhouse or barnyard, and where they 
get into the habit of raiding the chicken yards, must 
be gotten rid of at any cost. Often they are allowed 
to make and occupy nests in the vicinity of the barn 
and house and remain undisturbed on account of the 
disagreeable consequences an interference would bring 
about. The average man would rather beard the lion 
in his den than risk an encounter with a skunk. A 
pair of these animals made their abode beneath the 



TRAPS FOR POULTRY PESTS 



95 



floor of a neighbor's summer kitchen, and as the floor 
was not tight, got into the habit of coming into the 
room above. The farmer captured them by use of 
the trap shown in the ihustration (Figure 92). 

A smah-sized dry goods box, not so large but it 
can be easily carried, is fixed with a trap door, which 
is attached to a lever connected with a trigger in such 
a manner that when sprung, the door will drop. The 




FIG 92 : SKUNK TRAP 



box can be carried with its captive to a safe distance, 
where the odor will not be disturbing, and the pris- 
oner shot or dispatched by a trusty dog. 

The illustration shows the trap ready set. The 
trap door, a, is attached to a lever, b, which rests on a 
fulcrum at c. The other end of the lever is fastened 
to the trigger, d. The trigger passes through the top 
of the box, the notch, /, catching on the edge of the 
hole in the box, wdiich should 1)e large enough to give 



96 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



plenty of play. The trigger stick should be long 
enough to reach within an inch of the bottom of the 
box, where the bait, c, is fastened. A hinged door in 
the side of the box makes the last act easy — that of 
dispatching the entrapped animal. If the box is car- 
ried carefully, there is no danger of the skunk opening 
hostilities until immediate danger threatens him. 



c^i^*^ 







m. 



"^ *■ 



rr~.<r^ 



FIG 93 : PROTECTION FROM HAWKS 



A safe and quick way with skunks is narrated by 
A. H. Binney of Massachusetts, as follows: "I take 
an ordinary box trap and bait it with a chicken's head 
or piece of liver by tying it onto the spindle, but 
before doing that I drag the bait around on the ground, 
and every time drag it into the trap so as to give them 
a scent to follow. Then I dig a hole in the ground, 
two and one-half feet deep, about eighteen inches 
across, and now I am ready for the skunk. I am sure 
to have him the first morning. I then take trap and 



TRAPS FOR POULTRY PESTS 



97 



drag it to the hole I have dug, lift the trap up and 
slide the skunk into the hole. I have my gun handy 
but do not have to hurry, as he is a clumsy animal 
and would have hard work to °:tt out of the hole, if 




FIG 94 : TRAPPING A HAWK 



he ever could. I have a shovel handy and immedi- 
ately after shooting him, cover him with dirt. There 
is not the least danger of getting any scent on the 
clothes from getting him out of the trap in this way." 



98 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



Protection from Hawks — Where hawks abound, 
young- chicks must be closely guarded. If shut up 
closely in pens, growth will be greatly retarded. A 
good plan under such circumstances is shown in the 
accompanying cut. Plow two furrows parallel to each 
other and just far enough apart so that the distance 
from the outside of each shall be just six feet. Make 
the furrows one hundred and fifty feet long. Stretch 
a roll of six-foot wire netting along the furrows, 
fastening the edges down with loose stones. This 




FIG 95 : SETTING A HAWK TRAP 



gives a long run on both grass ground and plow^ed 
land for the chicks, and hawks cannot molest them. 
The coop can be set at one end, the other end being- 
stopped with sod. The plan is shown in Figure 93. 

In Little Compton, Rhode Island, which town 
produces annually from thirty thousand to forty thou- 
sand chicks, a bounty of twenty-five cents per head is 
paid for hen and chicken hawks. The same sum is 
paid for crows per head, they being nearly as inimical 



TRAPS FOR POULTRY PESTS 99 

if not equally so to the career of the chicken. This 
bounty is usually voted at the town meeting. At times 
it has been left for the town council to fix the sum, 
never being more than twenty-five cents per head, and 
some years a lesser sum. 

Various devices to prevent the near approach of 
the above-mentioned birds are noticed about here, 
among which may be mentioned the small windmill 
so arranged that at each revolution a rapid and noisy 
clapping is produced. Another arrangement quite 
generally in vogue is to erect long poles about the 
chicken yard, a stout cord extending from pole to 
pole at top, to which cord are appended multicolored 
strips of cloth. This method, while it prominently 
advertises the location of the tender morsel, is sup- 
posed to intimidate its wary foe. 

For catching hawks, the only effective device 
seems to be a common steel jaw trap set wdiere the 
bird is most likely to alight. A good location is on 
the top of a common fence rail or a long pole, set 
firmly in the ground. It is best located on some 
moderately high point in the middle of a field near the 
chicken lot, as indicated in Figure 94. In Figure 95 
are shown details of arranging the trap. 

L.ofC. 



CHAPTER X 



THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES 



A convenient inside arrangement which allows 
all common work to be done from the passageway is 
indicated by the plan, Figure 96. Drop doors enable 
the attendant to fill the dishes and troughs, get the 
eggs, clear off the droppings board, and even to take 
fowls from the roosts without going into the pens. 
The diagram shows also a cloth cover to be drawn in 
front of the roosts on cold nights. 

A ventilator that can be opened and closed at the 
will of the attendant will give good results if given 
proper attention, and without attention no ventilator 
will give the best results. All ventilators that are in 
continuous operation either give too much ventilation 
during cold and windy weather or not enough during 
still, warm days. As a rule, they give too much ven- 
tilation at night and too little during the warm parts 
of the day. The one illustrated in Figure 97 can be 
readily controlled and is used by G. C. Watson of the 
Pennsylvania experiment station. 

Ventilators are not needed in severe cold weather, 
but during the first warm days of early spring, and 
whenever the temperature rises above freezing during 
the winter months, some ventilation should be pro- 
vided. Houses with single walls will become quite 
frosty on the inside during severe weather, which will 
cause considerable dampness whenever the tempera- 
ture rises sufficiently to thaw out all the frost of the 
side walls and roof. At this time a ventilator is most 
needed. A ventilator in the highest part of the roof 



THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES 



lOl 



that can be closed tightly by means of cords or chains 
answers the purpose admirably and may be constructed 
with little expense. The ease and convenience of 
operation are important points, and should not be 




FIG 96: INTERIOR CONVENIENCES 



neglected when the building is being constructed. It 
is a simple matter for the attendant to open or close 
a ventilator as he passes through the house if the 
appliances for operating it are within easy reach. 



102 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



Pulleys — Plgiire 98 shows a screw pulley, sold at 
hardware stores very cheap, and useful about the 
poultry house for operating ventilators, small doors 
and windows and feed boxes. 

Figure 99 shows a simple way of making pulleys 
for raising henhouse windows by a cord operated from 
a hallway, or for any other position about farm build- 




FIG 97 : GOOD VENTILATION 



ings where light pulleys are desired. An empty spool, 
from which the thread has been used, has a round plug 
driven through it, the ends projecting, as shown. 
Two screw eyes of the proper size slip over the ends, 
after being screwed into the wall or ceiling. Use 
small spools and long screw eyes. 

Clean Houses — Useful implements for cleaning 
and renovating a poultry house appear in Figure lOO. 



THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES 



103 



The force pump should have nozzle and valves coarse 
enough for use in whitewashing. With rather thin 
whitewash and a pump, the interior of a lousy hen- 
house can be coated in a few minutes. Outside white- 
washing can also be done in this way. * A force pump 
is good for applying kerosene emulsion where lice, 




FIG 98 : SCREW PULLEY 



#^ 



FIG 99 : HOMEMADE PULLEY 




nest bugs or fleas are very plenty. The emulsion is 
made by adding kerosene oil to soapsuds and shaking 
them together in a covered pail until they mix. or by 
pumping them a few times from one pail to another. 
For applying disinfecting solutions of sulphuric acid 



104 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT, 



and water, solutions of corrosive sublimate, etc, a 
good pump is also convenient. Brass pumps of this 
kind cost about five dollars each. 






.liiiiii 



FIG lOO: CONVENIENCES FOR INSIDE WORK 

For careful application of whitewash, one of the 
brushes shown in Figure lOO is useful. It is of bristles 
outside and fiber within strong and durable. The 



THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES IO5 

large size costs about seventy-five cents. It may be 
fitted with a homemade handle. 

To clean poultry roosts, feed troughs, and for 
scraping trees, Figure lOO shows a handy implement. 
It is an old hoe with the edges, a a, cut as illustrated 
so as to make it of triangular shape. The blade should 
be sharpened occasionally to scrape easily. The 
points often come handy in loosening hard or sticky 
inatter in the corners. 



6a*rfi. 



FIG lOI : DUST BATH 

In the lower corner of the illustration, Figure lOO, 
is shown a barrel with roosts around the top, so that 
the greater part of the manure from the roosting fowls 
is caught in the barrel, where it gives no further 
trouble, except to add a little dry earth or coal ashes 
once in a w^hile. 

Dust Baths — Figure loi shows a space boxed off 
as a dust bath in the sunniest spot in the house, just 
below a window. If the box is raised a foot or two 
from the floor, the floor space beneath will be avail- 
able for the fowls or for nests. For a flock of twenty, a 



io6 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT • 



bath box three by six feet is a good size. An old sink 
makes a fairly good receptacle. Fill with dust, ashes 
and a little sulphur, all perfectly dry, and the fowls 
will use all winter. The space above the dust bin can 
also be used as a scratching place or as a shelf for 
nests, by putting in a kind of platform. Thus we 
have three stories in use; earth floor, dust bath and 




FIG 102: OUTSIDE DUST BATH 




FIG 103 : FOR DUSTING FOWLS 



platform floor. An outdoor dust bath is shown in 
Figure 102. 

To dust chickens by wholesale with any kind of 
insect powder, fix a small box with sliding cover, to 
revolve, as indicated in Figure 103. Put three or 
more chicks in the box, with a spoonful of powder, 
close the slide and revolve slowly and carefully three 



THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES 



107 



or four times. There will be a great fluttering inside 
and the dust will fill the chicks' feathers very com- 
pletely. Then replace these chicks with three others, 
and more of the insect powder. 

Heating a House — For a brooder house, hot 
water systems have the advantages of economy of fuel. 




FIG 104 : HEATER FOR POULTRY HOUSE 



with safety and ease of control. The piping is larger 
and costs somewhat more than for steam. The style 
shown in Figure 104 is quoted by an agricultural 
supply company at eighteen dollars to eighty-four 
dollars, according to size, and including all piping, 



io8 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



valves and tank. Anybody can set up a heater, and 
it is almost as easy to operate as a coal stove. Steam 
heat has some advantages for a large plant carefully 
planned with all the buildings supplied from a large 
boiler. But for the great majority of establishments 
a hot water system is to be preferred. 

Houses for layers are seldom heated, owing to 
the impression that the stock would become feeble 
and cold or roup increase. But the tests at the Utah 




FIG 105 : HEATER AND VENTILATOR 



experiment farm have attracted much attention as 
tending to show that a moderate amount of heat may 
be profitable for mature fowls, decidedly increasing 
the egg yield. On estates where a greenhouse or 
brooder plant is located, there would be little trouble 
or expense in turning on a little heat in the henhouse 
during very cold days and nights. 

Among the many plans in use for warming the 
poultry house, the heater illustrated in Figure 105 



THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES 



109 



supplies heat and ventilation or a supply of fresh, warm 
air. Any kind of a flat top stove or even a kerosene 
stove will give sufficient heat. The size of the stove 
should depend on the size of the house, but forty 
degrees is a sufficient heat. The illustration shows a 
closed box a yard square and an inch deep, made of 
ordinary sheet iron. The box or heater is placed on 
a small stove, or if legs are attached to each corner of 




FIG 106: LAMP HEATER 



the heater, a lamp may be placed under it. The cold 
air comes in at a, passes through the box, becoming 
heated, and emerges at the pipe b. The cold air pipe 
is one-half inch in diameter and the warm air pipe one 
inch. The pipe a should be long enough to extend 
through the walls to the outside, so as to bring in the 
pure air. No ventilators on the top of the building 
will be required, and the air will keep the house dry. 
Always bring the air in and discharge it near the roof, 



no POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 

as the birds will not then crowd or become lame as 
they will when the warmth is below them. 

Oil is too costly for poultry house heating except 
on a small scale, or in a limited way. For small 
flocks of choice hens, the device shown in Figure io6 
may help to secure more eggs and to save combs in 
zero weather. It is a cheap heater, by which the foul 
air is carried off through a smoke pipe, and the air 




FIG 107 : FEED COOKER 

warmed around the heater, thus avoiding the odor 
from the burning oil. The heater was made at the tin 
shop and is of good sheet iron, but it would do to use 
old milk or oil cans if one has large ones to spare. 
The gas from the lamp passes out of the building- 
through the pipe funnel, f. The outside shell is two 
inches larger in diameter than the inside one, allowing 



THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES 



III 



the air to pass up, become heated and go out to warm 
the house. A few holes should be punched around 
the base of the heater as shown, to admit air for the 
lamp. A common incubator or brooder lamp is used. 
Feed Cooker — Wliere much soft feed is used, a 
cooker and warmer is needed. A useful style appears 
in Figure 107. It can be had to burn coal or wood, 
and costs four dollars to twelve dollars, according to 
size. In this connection the feeder is advised to cook 
all refuse meat fed to fowls in order to kill any possible 
germs of disease. They sometimes get consumption 




FIG 108: SMALL COOKER FOR STOVE 

and bowel troubles by eating sickly raw meat. 
Cooked meat is also a better keeper than when raw. 
Figure 108 represents a cheap feed cooker, which 
can be made by cutting an ordinary wash boiler in two 
in the middle, having an end soldered on and a handle 
attached near the top. Into this during the day throw 
all potato parings, vegetable parings and other matter 
from the kitchen. Add water and place on the stove 
after the evening meal is cooked and let it remain 
until the space is needed in the morning for cooking 
breakfast, when it is removed. After breakfast is 
cooked, it is again replaced and by the time the owner 



112 



POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



is ready to feed the chickens, the whole mess is 
thoroughly cooked and is excellent for making a 
warm feed for laying hens. The cost is very slight 
and old boilers otherwise useless can be utilized. 

Worm Box — An abundant supply of worms suit- 
able for winter chicks can be bred without the bad 
odor caused when meat is used as a breeding sub- 




FIG 109: WORM BOX 



stance, by use of the frame box and filling indicated in 
Figure 109. The larger it is made, the better it will 
work. Fill with six-inch layers, using horse manure, 
loam or garden soil, and the cheap mixture of meal 
and dirt which can be had of large grain dealers. 
Keep indoors in a warm, light cellar or similar loca- 
tion, and the worms will be bred whenever there are 
flies to lay the eggs. If earthworms are stored in this 



THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES II3 

box, they will live and thrive if watered occasionally, 
and can be used at convenience. 

To Prevent Hens Scratching — Take any stout 
piece of cloth about six inches long and two and one- 
half inches wide, lap together around the hen's foot, 
as in Figure no. This is sure to prevent scratching 
and will last all summer. A piece of bagging will 
answer. Do not fasten so tightly as to stop circula- 
tion. Use soft cord. 

In this connection, C. W. Shorter, Chenango 
county. New York, writes: *'My hens bothered us 
some by digging in the garden and flower beds until 
I fixed what I call a poke (Figure no), and fastened 
it on their leg^. It is made of a piece of white ash 




FIG no: TO PREVENT SCRATCHING 

about six or seven inches long, liattened at one end 
and sharpened on the other. The flat end is bent 
around the hen's leg and tied with some strong thread. 
It drags behind when they walk, but when they go to 
scratch, they sit down, and seem quite surprised. 
Heavy wire would furnish good ones, and are more 
easily made." 

Shipping Crates for Fowls — The top strip on each 
side of crate (Figure 1 1 1 at the left of the illustration) 
should extend four inches at each end of crate, as no 
handles can be placed on the coop that will be quite 
so convenient. The bottom should be boarded, never 
stripped, as in the latter case the birds get their feet 
bruised and broken. 



114 



POULTRY APPLLANCES AND HANDICRAFT 



Most transportation companies will return ship- 
ping crates free of charge, and in this case it pays to 
have good, neat coops. Such coops should be made 
strong, but of light, thin material, lath for instance. 
Trapdoor in top, side strips up and down, not length- 
wise. Wheat or other food in the bottom of a coop 
often hurts the sale of fowls if they are sold by weight. 
When coops are stripped up and down, then, when 
desirable, feed may be given the fowls in vessels 
placed outside the coop. Neat appearance helps to 
sell all products and is one of the essential factors in 
securing top-notch price. 

More fowls are shipped by express in cloth coops 
in winter than at anv other season. A cloth-covered 




FIG II 



SHIPPING CRATES 



coop is scant protection to prevent frozen comb. Take 
the same coop, put cover pieces on outside the cloth 
cover, as suggested in the sketch at the right of Figure 
III, and over these stretch another covering of cloth, 
and we have an air space between that will protect the 
fowls from cold. Have a tight cover except the slit 
for the hand of the expressman, which will also afford 
ventilation. With plenty of chafif in the bottom to 
keep the feet warm, birds ought to be very comfort- 
able in such quarters, even in very cold weather. For 
mild weather the crate shown at the right of Figure 
III is one of the best and is quickly made from a box 
or secontl-hand Qgg case. 



THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES 



115 



For catching poultry, use a hook as in Figure 
112. It is made from a rod three or four feet long 
with a bent wire at the end. The end of the rod should 
be ferruled or bound with fine wire. The fowl is 
looped by one foot and carefully drawn in the de- 
sired direction. 



3EZ3- 



FIG 112: HOOK FOR CATCHING POULTRY 

Exerciser for Ducks — Duck breeders often have 
trouble in securing fertile eggs because of lack of ex- 
ercise for the breeding birds. The method described 
by H. H. Stoddard in the New Egg Farm, published 




FIG 113: 



DUCK AT EXERCISE 



by Orange Judd company, overcomes this obstacle by 
providing a series of swimming tanks under feed 
cylinders or feeding boards, as shown in Figure 113. 
A ditch is cut and boarded at sides and bottom, c 
showing the original surface of the ground, c 



an 



Il6 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT 

inclined plane of boards with lath tacked on to secure 
foothold, and d a platform with a slight slant for 
drainage. The feed cylinder is at a, and a yard or run- 
way begins at y. If the location allows a shallow 
ditch, the approach, c, may be omitted. This tank 
may be two, three or four feet wide or even more, 
according to the supply of running water. For an ex- 
tensive duck ranch the idea is to have the tank three 
hundred or four hundred feet long, divided by wire 
into sections for the accommodation of scores of fowls. 




FIG 114: LEGHORNS WITH COMBS CUT 

The ditch and the tank which lines it may be so 
constructed that the depth will be just sufficient to 
allow the ducks to assume the position shown in the 
illustration, being enabled with a little effort to reach 
the food which has been dropped from above into the 
tanks. While searching for the food, their necks and 
legs will be actively employed. The author describes 
a system of cylinders or feed boards which extend the 
whole length of the tank, and by striking with a ham- 
mer at one end food is dropped from the board or 



THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES 



17 



cylinder into each tank. This operation, repeated sev- 
eral times a day by the attendant, provides ample 
exercise. 

Cutting Wings — If a person cares to, it is possible 
to cut the wings when the chickens are so young that 
their flying ability will be effectually impaired for all 
time. This will often prove to be a great advantage, 
especially with fowls of the Leghorn, Hamburg and 
Minorca breeds. This is not dif^cult nor painful to 
the chick, if done at the right time, and consists simply 
in cutting the wing at the last joint; the portion cut 




FIG 115: SHIELD FOR INJURED FOWLS 



of¥ is but a trifle when the chick is young, but when 
it is developed it makes quite a material difference in 
its wing power, so much so that it is a comparatively 
small matter to confine them, and so far as practica- 
bility is concerned, it does not impair their useful 
qualities in the least. If the work is done when the 
chicken is about ten or twelve days old, it is scarcely 
painful, and the chick soon recovers its usual activity. 
Trimming Combs — The drawbacks of large 
combs and wattles are freezing in our northern states 
and the discomforts and strain resulting from carrying 



Il8 rOULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT* 

SO much weight on the head. It appears as though 
the circulation of blood in the head is somewhat 
affected by these excessive appendages, for it has been 
observed that a Leghorn -having frequent spells of 
giddiness and staggering can sometimes be quickly 
and permanently cured by trimming the comb, and 
we would always recommend the trimming of both 
comb and wattles for both sexes when two-thirds 
grown, as in Figure 114, especially in view of freezing 
when zero weather occurs. Use shears or scissors in- 
stead of a knife so as to pinch the blood vessels and 
mitigate the flow of blood. 




FIG 116: HOLDING A PIGEON 

Shield for Injured Fowls — This blanket, made of 
burlap or bagging (Figure 115), is used to protect 
hens or turkeys injured on back or sides during breed- 
ing season. Narrow bands or soft cords at sides and 
front attach the shield to the fowl under the legs and 
in front of breast. Without such precaution, the 
wounds made by spurs or claws are constantly being 
reopened and become sometimes incurable. 

To hold a pigeon firmly but without hurting it, 
take the bird as in Figure 116, the breast resting on 
the flat of the hand, so that the head is over the little 
finger, the le^s between the first and second fingers 
and the thumo across the back of the bird. The wings 
are held closely by the palm and ends of fingers and 
the bird will seldom struggle or try to escape. 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Balance for small mills 30 

Barrel with roosts 105 

Bone mills 26 

Box trap, improved 92 

Brooder, a cheap 82 

a handy 80 

a small lamp 81 

an improved 79 

filling a 86 

for fifty chicks 80 

for warm weather 89 

homemade 87 

hot water 91 

large hot water 86 

operation of 89 

the sure 83 

window 84 

Brooders, various 75 

Cabinet for eggs 71 

Cat trap 94 

Chickens, carrying young 75 

feeding pens for 6 

feeaing young 75, 78 

roost for 43 

temperature for 76 

to dust 1 06 

Combs, trimming 117 

Cooker no 

small Ill 

Crates, shipping 113 

Crockery, grinder for 31 

Door, between pens 45 

combination 44 

requirements for 44 

self-opening 46 

Doors, drop 100 

Ducks, exerciser for 115 

nest for , 60 

pool for 24 

Dust baths 105 

Dropping boards 41 

Egg carrier 72 

case 72 

tester 67 

turner 67 

Eggs, handling 71 

keeping 72 

storing 71 

testing 62 

turning » 63 



PAGE 

Exerciser 10 

Feed box, protected 2 

slatted 2 

cooker no 

Feeder, automatic for grains.... 7 

for chicks 3 

for shell, bone and grit 3 

Feeders, automatic 4 

simple for shell grit 5 

Feeding board 9 

by clockwork 8 

hopper, Bement's 3 

pens for chicks 6 

Fodder cutter 29 

Food chopper 28 

Fountain, covered 14 

for chicks 20 

for lamp 17 

general purpose 21 

non-freezing 19 

oyster-can 2^ 

protected . 13 

warmer 18 

"inter , 15 

Grit machine, powerful 33 

pounder 31 

Grundy's advice on hatching.... 63 

Hawks, bounty for 98 

protection from . 98 

trapping 99 

Heater and ventilator 108 

for poultry house 107 

for water 16 

Homemade incubator 65 

Hook, poultry 115 

Houses, cleaning 102 

Incubator for farmers 61 

problem, the 61 

running an 62 

starting an 69 

to make 64 

Incubators. Grundy on 6^ 

regulating 63 

selecting an 61 

Injured fowls, protecting 118 

Insect powder, to apply 106 

Kerosene emulsion, to make.... 103 

Lamp pipes 68 



20 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Manure bin 42 

Mill for green bones 2^ 

for grit 32 

Nests and roost 57 

dark 54 

for ducks 60 

model 51 

movable 54 

secure 53 

simple 51 

recording 55 

wire 54 

Passageway, convenient 100 

Pigeon, holding a 118 

Pulley, homemade 102 

Pulleys 102 

Pump for whitewashing 103 

Rats, trap for 92 

Roost and nest 59 

a low 34 

a model 34 

for cold weather 38 

for heavy fowls 39 

in oil pan 38 

Roosting plan, a warm 38 

room separate 40 

Roosts and dropping boards.... 47 

and manure bin 42 

cleaner for 105 

cover for ........105 

for chickens 43 

improved 35 

lice proof 36 

on barrel i^S 

portable 34 

support 37 



PAGE 

Scratching, to prevent 113 

Shell, feeder for 5 

Shield for fowls 118 

Shipping case for eggs tz 

crates 113 

Skunk trap 94 

to dispose of 96 

Stories, three, using 106 

Tank for water 12 

Tester for eggs 79 

Trap for cats 94 

for hawks 99 

for skunks 94 

nests 55 

Trough, covered 2 

protected i 

wire I 

Vegetable cutter 29 

Ventilation, when needed ...... 100 

Ventilator, box 67 

convenient 100 

Warm box 112 

Waste of food i 

Water can, casing for 22 

dish, box for 23 

dish, safe 22 

for ducks 24 

heater 16 

supply plan of - ■ • n 

Whitewashing, brush for i03 

with pump 103 

Window brooder 84 

Windows, double 49 

good 46 

warm 48 

Wings, cutting = 117 



AL/G 3 1902 



^^UG30m2 



AUG. ?.n t,Q07 



